Life Goes On
by Shorty171984
Summary: Matt and Jeff Hardy's cousin is abused by her stepfather, and they rescue her to take her on the road with them, only to have her fall in love with one of their tagteam competitors. On hiatus...possibly discontinued unless the writer's block goes away.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: There is a lot of cursing in this chapter, so don't read it if you don't like it! Um, I own nothing but the created characters – so basically any name that you don't know, they're mine. I wouldn't mind owning Jeff Hardy, Rene Dupree or Randy Orton, but I'm not that lucky! :(  
  
Chapter 1:  
"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present to you, Oldenburg Academy's graduating class of 2003," the principal announced to everyone sitting in the pews at Holy Family church, accompanied by the cheer that rose up from the now graduated students as they filed out of the building and threw their caps in their air.  
"We made it!" Amanda (Mandy) O'Neill yelled as she hugged her best friend Jean Hardy.  
"Finally! I thought that this day would never come!" Kristen Davis, their other best friend chimed in.  
"I'm so glad that we're out of there, but now who only knows what's going to happen to all of us," Jean said sadly.  
Amanda and Kristen looked at each other, and then hugged her tightly.  
"Jean, no matter what, we'll always be here for you. We've been here since you transferred sophomore year and got into Marissa's face the first day of school and almost got yourself kicked out. We're best friends, and we always will be here for each other," Mandy said.  
"Friends forever?" Kristen asked, looking at the other two.  
"Friends forever," Mandy and Jean agreed.  
The three smiled at each other and started to talk about what they were going to do tonight when all of a sudden Jean was picked up from behind and tossed over a shoulder.  
"Um, help?" she yelped.  
"Not gonna happen," a male voice said.  
"Wait, I know that voice. JEFFREY HARDY PUT ME DOWN OR I'M GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS!" Jean yelled.  
"Well, when you put it that way," Jeff said and lowered her to the ground.  
Jean shook her head and turned to look at her favorite cousin. "What the hell are you doing here? I thought that you were on tour with the WWE!"  
"Yeah well, I could hardly let my favorite cousin graduate without family support now could I?" Jeff asked as he hugged her.  
"Aww, thanks sweetie. Now how come I only got half of the Hardy Boyz team? Does Matt not love me enough to come?" Jean pouted, and then yelped as she was picked up again.  
"Did you just ask what I think you asked?" Matt asked as he twirled his cousin around in a circle.  
"Um, I love you Matt. How about you put me down now?" Jean pleaded.  
"Fine," Matt said with a big sigh. "Only because I love you Jean."  
"Yay!" Jean cheered.  
"I'm so proud of you little girl," Matt said as he hugged her tightly, but releasing when he felt her wince. "Jean?" he asked as he looked down at her.  
"It's nothing," she said, trying to cover up. "You just squeezed me so tightly that I couldn't breathe."  
"Okay," Matt said, although his eyes told her that this discussion wasn't over, but that they'd wait until they were out of the public view.  
"Wow Jean, I never realized that there were actually some decent people in your family's genetic pool," Marissa Evans, the snobbiest girl in school said as she looked Matt up and down. She licked her lips slowly, and winked at Matt. "So what are you doing later on tonight cutie?"  
"He'll be with me, so I'd suggest you get your skanky ass out of here," a female voice came from behind Marissa.  
"Amy!" Jean said and grabbed Matt's girlfriend in a huge hug. The two were very close and had been ever since Matt and Amy had started dating a few years ago after Lita, her WWF character, had been assigned to work as the valet for the Hardy Boyz.  
"Excuse me, but who the hell do you think you are?" Marissa said, getting into Amy's face. "I believe that I was talking to him, not to you."  
Amy turned around and looked down at her. "For one, I'm Matt's girlfriend, and if that's not a good enough reason for you, I'm also a professional wrestler and I kick the shit out of people for a living. So I would suggest that you turn your ass around and walk away."  
  
Marissa tossed her hair and rolled her eyes, then turned to Jean, "Well, looks like I was wrong again. There never was anything worthwhile in your family was there? Because lord knows that you're not worth anything."  
"Marissa, shut the hell up and get out of here. Go play with your Barbie clones," Mandy said.  
"Whatever," Marissa said and flounced off to her friends.  
"God, but I hate that girl," Mandy said as Jean and Kristen nodded in agreement.  
"Who the hell is she?" Amy asked, glaring at the girl's back.  
"That would be the richest girl in school, and her family always gives her exactly what she wants, so she thinks that she can get whatever she wants," Jean explained. "She's been making my life hell since I got in her face the first day I came to this school because she was making fun of my accent."  
Jeff looked affronted. "Hey now, I've got that accent too. That bitch is going down," he said and pouted.  
"Hey now Skittles, chill out," Amy said and laughed. "She's not worth any of our time."  
Jeff rolled his eyes at her. "Well, she was hitting on your boyfriend, so I guess it's your decision Amy."  
"Congratulations honey!" Mary Jackson, her mother, said coming up to give Jean a big hug.  
Matt noticed as Jean winced again as her ribs were squeezed and his eyes narrowed as he vowed to find out what was going on.  
"That's our little girl!" Frank Jackson, her stepfather, said loudly as he clapped his hand down harshly on Jean's shoulders, causing her knees to buckle.  
Jean growled under her breath, because she hated this man and what he'd done to her. She just stood there silently, trying not to do anything to piss him off because she didn't feel like getting beaten up again when she was finally starting to heal from the last time around.  
"Well honey, are you ready to head home?" Mary asked.  
"Oh, you have no idea how ready I am," Jean said enthusiastically. "Let's get the hell out of this place!"  
Matt and Jeff laughed at their cousin and then led the way to the cars to drive to Mary and Frank's house. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Chapter 2:  
As soon as they pulled in the driveway, Jean jumped out of the car and ran upstairs to her room to change and to collect her thoughts. She locked the door behind her, and then began the slow, painful process of taking off her dress. She reached behind herself to undo the zipper, and hissed in pain as her ribs protested the movement. "Owwww," she whimpered as she tried to force the zipper all the way down. "Thank God," she said as she finally forced the zipper all the way down and shrugged out of the dress. She walked over to the mirror and looked at her stomach and grimaced at the sight. Her entire stomach and both sides of her ribs were a mass of black, blue, yellow, and green bruising from her belly button up to right below her bra, not to mention the perfectly bruised fingerprints on both her upper arms from where Frank had grabbed her and pulled her into the house on Saturday. "Don't I just look beautiful," she mocked herself, turning in the mirror to look.  
*When am I going to learn to be quiet around Frank, especially when Frank's been drinking? He's bad enough when he's sober and you contradict him, because God knows – he has to be in charge in every situation, because otherwise his masculinity is being challenged, and he can't be beaten by a girl! Seriously Jean, you're smarter than that. I should know by now that every weekend when Mom's traveling for work, Frank's drunk, and when he's drunk, he's violent. I've been dealing with this for two years, you think I'd be able to figure it all out by now. And it's not like Mom would be any help even if she was here. The last time I tried to tell her what happened she slapped me and told me to shut up, that I was just trying to ruin her chance at happiness. She said that I'd hurt myself at gymnastics practice, and I was just using it as an excuse to try to ruin her marriage because she was paying more attention to Frank than to me. Hell, she said that if I lied to her again about Frank she'd kick me out, whether I'd finished school or not. Well, I've graduated now, but Lord only knows what's going to happen now. I'm not going to college because I can't afford it, and because Frank refuses to pay any of his money to put me, in his terms 'the stupid bitch that ain't my kid', through college. I guess I'll have to find a job, and just get the hell out of this house and away from him. If it hurts Mom, I'm sorry, but I can't deal with his shit anymore.*  
*Knock Knock*  
The knock on her door startled her and Jean jumped. "Who is it?" she asked nervously.  
"It's Amy. Can I come in?"  
"Umm, hold on just a minute – I have to finish changing," Jean said as she opened her dresser to pull out a change of clothes. She tried to bend down to put on her jeans, but the pain in her side lanced through her. "Owwww," she groaned as she grabbed her side.  
"Are you okay Jean?" Amy asked, her concern evident even through the door.  
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm almost done," Jean called as she laid down on the floor to pull her jeans on. She unfolded the long-sleeved t-shirt and started to pull it over her head, only to have tears fill her eyes as she accidentally elbowed herself in the side in her rush. "Fuck, fuck fuck!" she chanted under her breath as she tried not to cry at the pain. As soon as she was sure that she could control her tears, she walked over to the door and opened it to let Amy in. "Hey girl," she said happily, smiling up at her.  
"Hey sweetie," Amy said, hugging her tightly, trying to conceal her suspicions about what was going on, and having them confirmed when Jean flinched away from her touch. Amy pulled away from her and went and sat down on Jean's bed. "What's going on?" she asked calmly, looking Jean straight in the face.  
"Nothing," Jean claimed. "I took a bad fall during practice earlier this week on the balance beam and I banged up my side pretty bad."  
"Really?" Amy said doubtfully. "That would explain it if you only flinched when one side was touched, but you wince whenever someone touches either side of you."  
"I-uh-um," Jean stammered, trying to avoid Amy's eyes.  
"You can talk to me Jean, you know that. I'm not going to kick your ass or anything," Amy joked, trying to get Jean to smile, or at least to look at her.  
"It's nothing Amy, I swear," Jean said, still not meeting Amy's eyes.  
Amy sighed and shook her head. "Okay," she said, accepting that Jean wasn't going to tell her what was going on. "Just remember that I'm always here for you, no matter what hun. I just want to be sure that you're okay."  
Jean nodded, and glanced up at her, "I'll be fine. Trust me." She leaned over and gave Amy a hug, although being careful not to hurt her sides.  
They both jumped as Jean's bedroom door suddenly swung open to reveal the large figure of Frank Jackson in the doorway. Frank looked at the two girls suspiciously and stared at Jean, but then tried to cover it quickly when he saw Amy staring at him. "Ah, just the girls I was looking for! You girls will be much more comfortable downstairs with everyone else. Let's go." His tone brooked no opposition as he stared at Jean, all but ordering her to do what he said.  
Amy stared at the man that she had a feeling was the one who had hurt Jean. He was such an officious asshole, trying to tell them what to do when he really had no command over them. Amy's temper steamed as she decided where to start taking this man apart. Amy stood up and looked at him, and tried to stop herself from growling at him. "Excuse me, the last time I checked, this is Jean's room. Not yours. Usually that means that you're supposed to knock before you open the door. Secondly, I'm 26 years old, which would classify me as a woman, not a girl. And last, but definitely not least, I don't take orders from you. Don't try to tell me what to do. You may be married to Mary, but you're not the boss of me, or of Matt and Jeff, we're visitors, not servants," Amy said, trying her best to keep an even tone.  
Jean quickly jumped in as she saw Frank's face flush red, and she could nearly see the steam blowing out of his ears. "Um, we'll be right down sir," she blurted out, as she tried to keep him from taking his temper out on Amy.  
"EXCUSE ME?!!!" Frank screamed in Amy's face. "This is MY home, not YOURS. SO if you don't like the way I run things, then get the FUCK out of my house you stupid BITCH! I may have to deal with this little whore, but I don't have to deal with you, so get the hell out before I kick YOUR ass!"  
Amy stared at him incredulously. She'd heard of men that couldn't deal with being in control of every relationship with a woman, but she never thought that Mary would tie herself down to one of them because she seemed so much smarter than that. She stared down her nose at Frank and rolled her eyes, which only aggravated him further, and she suddenly found herself flying across the room to land in a heap against the dresser after he'd grabbed her and thrown her into the dresser. Amy slowly stood up and stared at him in shock. She couldn't believe that he'd just thrown her into the dresser, but then her eyes narrowed further as she noticed Jean standing in between her stepfather and Amy.  
"No, you're not touching her Frank. Just go downstairs and we'll be there shortly," Jean attempted to reason with the enraged man.  
"Get out of my way you stupid bitch," Frank growled as he shoved Jean onto the bed on his way to Amy, who quickly kicked him in the groin and knocked him to his knees. "Oh you fucking whore!" he screamed as he grabbed at himself and curled himself in a ball on the floor.  
"C'mon," Amy said, grabbing Jean's hand and pulling her out of the room, into the hallway, only to run into Matt and Jeff.  
"What the hell happened???" Matt asked as he saw the shocked look on Amy's face and the terrified look on Jean's.  
"Frank just threw me into the dresser when I stood up to him about talking down to us and coming in without knocking, and I also think that he's responsible for hurting Jean," Amy quickly explained as she kept moving down the hall, trying to get away before Frank could come after them.  
"Is that true Jean?" Jeff asked, staring down at his cousin who seemed to be in shock that someone would actually help her.  
"I-uh-um," Jean stammered, and then paled as she heard a bellow like an enraged bull moose coming from down the hallway. "Shit," she cursed nervously, looking at the three. "Let's get out of here," she decided quickly and ran for the front door, only to come face to face with her mother.  
"What's going on here Jean? What did you do to Frank?" her mother said, glaring at Jean. "You know that you're not supposed to upset him while you live in his house!"  
  
"What did Jean do to Frank?!" Amy exclaimed indignantly. "Try what did Frank do to us! Your husband just threw me into a dresser!"  
"WHAT?!" Matt yelled at the top of his lungs. "Oh, I'm so kicking his ass!" he threatened.  
"No, you're not," Amy said, turning to look at him, and then back at his aunt. "Not to mention that your husband has been beating up on Jean!"  
"Oh God, she's not telling that lie again is she?" Mary asked, rolling her eyes. "She's just so damn clumsy at gymnastics practice that she hurts herself all the time. All she wants to do is ruin my chance at happiness because she's a selfish little bitch and she can't deal with the fact that I care more about someone else than her."  
Jeff stared at his aunt in amazement. She'd never acted like this before, and he'd always thought of her as a good mother. "Aunt Mary, you should have just listened to what you said. Jean's a competitively trained gymnast, in the top 10 in the world, and you're claiming that she's hurt because she's clumsy? If that's what it was, then she wouldn't be doing that well now would she?"  
"Guys, stop," Jean said, trying to stop the argument. "It's not a big deal, can we not discuss this right now?"  
"No," Amy said emphatically. "That, that, THING, up there just threw me into a dresser because I stood up to him about something. That's not right. Not to mention the fact that you flinch every time someone touches your ribs. Better yet, why don't you show your mom, and the rest of us what your sides look like, and then see if she can blame that on your gymnastics practice!" Amy challenged.  
Jean paled even more at the thought of showing off her bruises. "Uhh," she said, trying to stall for time, but as she realized that it wasn't going to happen, she slowly raised her shirt to show everyone the mass of bruises on her body.  
"What the FUCK!!!!!" Matt and Jeff yelled in unison as they saw how bruised she was. They dealt with bruising every day with their work, but even then, they very rarely saw someone this damaged.  
"Oh my God, Jean," Amy said as she saw how bad the bruising really was. "Holy crap, how can you live with that?"  
Mary tossed her hair. "See, I told you it was just from gymnastics," she sniffed. "You're all making this out of nothing. Besides, I'm sure Frank didn't throw you into the dresser. You're probably just making this up because you want to make yourself look good. You just yelled at him and then he probably took a step towards you to apologize for making you mad and you backed up into the dresser," Mary said, refusing to believe that Frank could be in the wrong or that he was capable of the things that they were claiming.  
Amy stared at the woman in shock. "What the hell is wrong with you lady?" she asked, unable to believe that the woman could be this far in denial.  
"Don't you talk to me that way!" Mary said, giving Amy a dirty look. "You can just get the hell out of my house if you're going to disrespect me and my family that way."  
"Oh, I'll go gladly," Amy said, giving her a dirty look, "but I'm taking Jean with us. I refuse to leave her here to deal with this shit." She glanced at Jeff and Matt quickly to get their support, to which they emphatically nodded, then she turned to Jean. "Do you want to go with us?"  
Jean glanced nervously from her mother to her cousins and their girlfriend. She knew where she'd rather be, but she didn't want to cut all ties from her mother, whom she loved dearly, even though her mother was blinded by Frank's lies. "Um," she stalled for time.  
"Jean, if you leave this house with them, you're never coming back to it," her mother threatened. "You know the rules, and you know you have to follow them."  
Jean licked her lips nervously, and she was about to tell her mother that she was going to stay, when she heard an enraged scream and heavy footfalls coming down the hallway.  
"You just wait until I get my hands on you, you little bitch!" Frank screamed when he saw the group of people standing by the front door.  
Jean blanched, and her decision was made. "Let's go," she said, running out the door to the car with Amy in quick pursuit. "We'll take my car and leave Matt and Jeff the other one," she decided.  
"Matt," Amy called through the door. "Grab some of Jean's stuff and bring it back to the hotel. We'll meet you there!"  
"Okay," Matt agreed as the two women pulled out of the drive and peeled tires on their way out of there. Matt turned to look at his aunt and shook his head as he realized that she wasn't the woman he'd thought that she was. "We'll get her stuff, and then return her car tonight before we leave town. After this, consider all ties cut between us and you," he said softly, then headed down the hallway back to Jean's room.  
"Don't worry about that," Mary said harshly. "After what she's done, she's not welcome here.  
Matt and Jeff looked at each other, and then at their aunt and shook their heads and went to Jean's room. They grabbed the two suitcases out of her closet and quickly dumped all of her clothes in there, without worrying about folding anything.  
"What about her pictures and the little knick-knack stuff?" Jeff asked, glancing around at the stuff on her desk and dresser.  
"Um," Matt said, looking down at the suitcases. "These are both full, are there any bags around here?"  
Jeff glanced under the bed, and pulled out three duffel bags. "Score!" he cheered as he laid them on the bed and the two men quickly filled them with the last of Jean's belongings. Jeff grabbed two of the duffel bags and suitcase, and left Matt to carry the other bag and suitcase and they headed out of the house without a word to either Mary or Frank. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:  
"What hotel are you staying at?" Jean asked Amy as they sped off down the road.  
"We're at the Hampton Inn by the interstate," Amy said as she sat in shock in the passenger seat at what had just happened. Amy turned to look at Jean, "Oh my god honey, why didn't you call one of us and ask us to help?"  
Jean laughed harshly. "Honestly, who do you think would have been able to help me? I couldn't have been with you, Matt, and Jeff, because you were on tour and I hadn't graduated yet, and I doubt that Uncle Gil would have taken me because Mom would have made him think that I was lying."  
Amy thought about it for a moment, then spoke, "Jean, you know that Gil would have taken you in a heartbeat. All you would have had to do was show him those bruises, and he would have moved heaven and earth to bring you back to North Carolina with him. Gil loves you like you were his own child, and he has ever since your dad died in the car accident when you were four."  
Jean shrugged. "I made the best choice that I thought I could in the situation. I just avoided being home as much as possible, especially when it was just me and Frank. When he and Mom first got married two years ago, I thought that things were going to be great. I had a new stepfather that was really nice, and even though I didn't really want to leave North Carolina, I figured that Indiana wouldn't be that bad. My mom was happy, and I wanted to keep her that way as long as possible. I honestly don't remember a time when my mom was truly happy before she started dating Frank, which is really sad. As much as it hurt me, I wanted her to be happy because I knew that I would be out of the house in a few years. I just didn't think that things would get as bad as they did."  
"No kidding," Amy said. "When exactly did he turn into an asshole?"  
"About a year ago," Jean answered. "Mom starting going away on all these business trips since she got promoted to a manager, and that really pissed him off because she was making more money than he was. Frank couldn't stand to not be in control of everything, it was like it was a challenge to his manhood or something. But anyway, one weekend Mom was supposed to be home, but she ended up having to take a trip for work and he got really drunk to try and forget about the fact that she was in control of something. I came in about fifteen minutes late for curfew because I'd had to stop and get gas, and that had never bothered them before. Usually as long as I made it within fifteen to twenty minutes, everything was fine – but that night everything was different. Frank got in my face about being late, and I made a comment about how he wasn't my father and he didn't have the right to tell me what to do and he blew up on me.  
He called me lots of names, but he kept sticking to the fact that I was an ungrateful little bitch because I didn't appreciate everything that he'd done for me and my mom. I told him that I appreciated what he'd done for my mom, but as far as I could tell, the only thing that he'd done for me was to take me away from North Carolina, away from my friends and family, and bring me to Indiana where I didn't know anyone. That triggered a mental breakdown or something in him and he just went nuts. He beat the hell out of me for a good two or three hours before he finally stopped after he realized that I was unconscious. He ended up having to take me to the hospital that night, claiming that I got into an accident with a four- wheeler in the backyard when I crashed into a tree. I ended up with three broken ribs, a broken arm, and a concussion after that incident, and I had to agree with his story, because I knew if I didn't – I'd be injured even worse than I had been. He was just different after that, y'know? He'd gotten a taste for violence, and he enjoyed the occasions when he'd get to hit me. My mom still didn't know about it though, because he'd only do it when she was away on business and could use my gymnastics practice as an excuse for all the damage to my body, and then the one time that I tried to tell my mom....well, she didn't believe me and told me that I was just trying to ruin her chance at happiness and threatened to kick me out...and that's where things have kind of been until now," Jean finished as they pulled up to the hotel.  
Amy just looked at her in shock. "Oh my God. I really don't know what else to say to that. I have no idea how you managed to deal with all of that, and still graduate and still be the sweetheart that you are."  
Jean shrugged. "Sometimes I wonder that myself, and then I remind myself that if I didn't act like I do – I'd turn into him. And that's something that I refuse to do. I know that I'm better than that."  
"Sweetie, you're tons better than that. I don't think that you could ever be the kind of person that he is, because you're right, you are better than that," Amy told her. She leaned over and hugged Jean, "Just remember girly, Matt, Jeff, and I are your new family, and we'll always be here for you, no matter what."  
"Thanks Amy," Jean said, as she hugged her back. "You have no idea how much I appreciate that. Not to seem really harsh and unemotional, but you're probably wondering why I haven't cried over this."  
"Yeah, just a little bit," Amy admitted candidly.  
"His goal was to try and make me cry, and I never gave him the satisfaction and that pissed him off. I swore to myself, up and down, that I would pass out before I would give him the pleasure of letting him see me cry, and he never did. I'm proud of myself for that," Jean said.  
"Oh honey," Amy said sadly. "Well, I can't really say that I blame you then, but keeping all those emotions bottled up inside you isn't the way to go because eventually it'll just all blow up in your face."  
"I know," Jean admitted sadly, "but I'm just not ready to deal with all of this yet. I hate having to realize that I just lost my mother to that man, because I know she'll never forgive me after this."  
"Well, if she's going to treat you like that, and believe his lies, then maybe your mom isn't worth it. I know that's not what you want to hear, but sometimes you just don't have a choice," Amy told her.  
"I know," Jean said. "Well, I guess we might as well get out of the car now," she commented wryly.  
Amy laughed. "I suppose we could do that." She climbed out of the car and led the way into the hotel and up to the suite she was sharing with Matt and Jeff. "Here we are," she said as she opened the door. "Our home away from home, at least for now. Matt and I are staying in this room, but there's two double beds in the other room so I guess you'll be sharing a room with Jeff."  
"Oh yay!" Jean joked. "It'll be just like old times! We can annoy the hell out of each other yet again!"  
  
Amy laughed. "Isn't that the truth. I love Jeff to death, but he's so hyper sometimes."  
"Well, if it's okay with you – do you think it would be possible for me to jump in the shower real quick?" Jean asked.  
"Oh sure, here I'll go get you some of my clothes," Amy said as she quickly grabbed a t-shirt and jeans out of the dresser.  
"Okay, I'll see you in a little bit then," Jean said as she made her way into the bathroom.  
Amy turned on the TV, not that she really watched it because she was so busy thinking about what had happened today. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:  
"Man, that was...I don't know what today was, but this is really messed up," Jeff said, at a complete loss for words.  
"I agree," Matt said, nodding. "I had no idea that things had gotten that bad, but then again, it's not like we've been around for her either. We've been touring for so long, and it's really hard to keep in touch with people who have regular sleeping schedules since we don't get done with tapings and shows until really late."  
"Yeah," Jeff agreed. "But I still feel like we should have been there for her. She's so small that it's easy just to throw her around, and I hate that she's been exposed to that. No one should have to deal with that at her age. She's with us now for good, you know that right?"  
"Oh, she's definitely staying with us because she's never going back there, but where exactly is she going to stay?" Matt asked.  
"I'll talk to Vince and see if we can write me an injury into the script so that I can take a couple weeks off and get her settled into my house," Jeff offered.  
"Why your house?" Matt wanted to know.  
"Because Amy is living with you, and I really doubt that Jean wants to watch you two be lovey-dovey all the time," Jeff said, rolling his eyes.  
Matt laughed. "Okay, I can understand that, but why not with Mom and Dad?"  
"Because I have a feeling that she'd rather be with us right now since we'll be able to keep her away from Frank if he were to try and come after her. Not to mention the fact that it makes me a lot more comfortable to know that she'll be with one of us at all times," Jeff explained.  
Matt nodded. "Alright, that works for me," he agreed.  
"I'll call Vince as soon as we get back, and that way we can figure out the best way to write me out for a few weeks," Jeff said.  
"Why don't you pick a fight with the Dudley Boys?" Matt suggested. "You could make a couple comments about how we're a better tag team and have them pretend to beat you up."  
"That'd work," Jeff agreed. "It's believable, and it'll give us a storyline to continue with when I come back. That's what I'll suggest to Vince then, and hopefully he'll go for it."  
"I'm sure he will," Matt said. "If we explain the situation I'm sure he'll give you some time off."  
"Yeah, hopefully," Jeff said as they pulled up at the hotel. "Here, I'll take these and you can take what's left," he said as he grabbed a suitcase and two of the duffle bags and headed for the hotel.  
"God, today has freaking sucked," Matt said as they got into the elevator and headed for their room. "Hey babe," he said as he kissed Amy when they walked in the room.  
"Hey," she replied, focusing on him.  
"What were you thinking about?" Matt asked.  
"Jean," Amy said simply. "I'm so worried about her. She's being so tough through all of this, but I'm scared it's going to end up backfiring on her and she'll break down at the worst possible moment."  
"Well, we're going to make sure that we'll be there for her when it happens," Jeff said. "Where's she at?"  
"The shower," Amy answered as they heard the water switch off in the bathroom. "She should be out shortly."  
Matt and Jeff nodded and settled down to watch TV with Amy.  
"Hey guys," Jean said as she came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her hair. "Did you get everything?" she asked nervously, biting her lower lip.  
"We took everything from your room basically," Matt said. "We emptied out the dresser, the closet, and your desk and we took all the knick knacks."  
  
"Okay, cool," Jean said. "That's everything then."  
"Alright, now that you're here, we wanted to tell you about our plan," Jeff said, bouncing up and down.  
"Chill out Skittles," Jean said rolling her eyes. "I'm listening."  
  
"We're going to go back on tour on Monday, and get Vince to write me out of the script for a few weeks after I get into a fight with someone, probably the Dudley Boyz, and we're going to move you in to my house," Jeff started to explain.  
"Great, so I'm going to get left behind when you go on tour? Thanks Jeff, that'll be exciting," Jean said, rolling her eyes.  
"Excuse me missy, I wasn't finished yet!" Jeff pouted.  
"Oh, sorry," Jean apologized.  
"As I was saying, before I was so RUDELY interrupted," Jeff said, looking at Jean, who stuck her tongue out at him. "We're going to talk to Vince after that about writing you into the script and giving you a position on the show as somebody's valet."  
"Really?!" Jean's face lit up. "That's awesome!"  
Matt laughed at her face. "Wow, someone's not excited or anything are they?" he teased her.  
"Damn straight I'm excited!" Jean said, jumping up and down, and then running over to hug Jeff. "I love you Jeff!"  
Jeff laughed. "Alright hun, nice to know that it has your approval."  
"So does this mean I get to become a wrestler somewhere down the road?" Jean asked eagerly, glancing back and forth between the three of them.  
"That's up to Vince, not us," Matt told her. "Although, I'm sure if you tell him that you want to be one, he'll be fine with it as long as you can find someone to train you."  
  
Jean looked at Amy and pouted her lip. "Aaamy?" she begged.  
Amy laughed. "Don't look at me hon, I don't have the final answer on that one. If Vince says that he'll let you wrestle, then I'd be happy to help train you."  
"YES!!" Jean cheered. "I love you guys!"  
"Well, on that note," Matt said, laughing at her enthusiasm. "Let's order dinner."  
  
"PIZZA!" Jean and Jeff yelled together.  
"Wow, we can tell who the youngest ones are," Amy said, rolling her eyes at them.  
"Hey!" Jeff said. "I can still act like a kid – I'm the younger Hardy Boy, remember?"  
"It's not like we could forget," Matt joked.  
Jeff stuck his tongue out at him as Matt called to order the pizza.  
"Here, give me the phone," Jeff said as Matt hung up. "I'm going to call Vince." Jeff talked to Vince quickly while they waited for the pizza delivery guy to arrive, and then about fifteen minutes later he got off the phone. "He said that's fine, but he wants Jean to come see him tomorrow when we show up for RAW so that he can talk to her and decide where to place her."  
"Awesome," Jean said happily.  
The pizza delivery man showed up after that, and the four spent the rest of the night watching TV and eating pizza. 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:  
"WAKE UP!" Jean heard someone yell into her ear & she sat straight up in bed. "Oh my God, Jeffrey Hardy, I'm going to murder you!" she said, glaring at her cousin.  
"I love you Jean," Jeff said, slowly backing away from her in pretend terror.  
"Oh you brat," Jean said rolling her eyes. "I'm up, I'm up," she complained as she grabbed some clothes out of her suitcase.  
"It's about freaking time," Jeff muttered.  
"What was that?" Jean asked, turning around to look at him.  
"Oh nothing," Jeff said innocently.  
"Uh huh, sure," she said doubtfully, raising an eyebrow at him.  
"Jean, go get dressed," Amy said as she came out of the room she and Matt had shared. "Everyone else is ready."  
"I'm going, I'm going," she complained as she walked into the bathroom. She came out a couple minutes later and grabbed all of her stuff. "Let's go then, since y'all are in such a hurry," she said.  
"Who's driving?" Amy asked.  
"I guess I will," Matt said, when no one else replied.  
"Wait, what about my car?" Jean asked as she remembered that it was still in the parking lot.  
"I already returned it while you were sleeping," Jeff said, rolling his eyes at her.  
"Oh bite me," Jean said, sticking her tongue out at him.  
"Y'all are acting like kids!" Matt complained.  
"Hey, I just quit being one two months ago," Jean told him.  
"Oh lord," Matt said, rolling his eyes. "Let's go."  
Everyone followed him out to the car and climbed in for the boring drive to the airport, since Matt had already checked out before they went back to get Jean up.  
"We're here," Matt announced as they pulled up to the airport.  
"Well no shit Sherlock," Jean said, rolling her eyes. "I thought we were at the train station."  
"Man you're cranky in the morning," Matt said.  
"Really. What was your first clue?" Jean said sarcastically.  
"Your attitude," Jeff answered for him, sticking his tongue out at her.  
"Like you should talk about having an attitude Skittles," Jean said as she grabbed her stuff out of the trunk.  
"Yeah, I know," Jeff grinned. "You learned from the best!"  
  
"Yeah, me!" Amy interjected.  
"What?!" Jeff cried, affronted. "Nope, she learned from me!"  
"I learned from all three of you, because you're all smartasses," Jean said, laughing at them.  
"Isn't that the truth," Matt said as he locked the car. "Here, y'all go take the luggage and check it for the flight while I return the keys to the rental office. I'll meet you guys at the gate. Oh wait, which one is it again?"  
"Good job Matt, you're going to meet us there but you don't know where it is. That should work out just GREAT," Jeff said.  
"Oh shut up," Matt told him.  
"Delta, Gate C," Amy told him as she checked the tickets.  
"Okay, I'll see you guys there in a few," Matt said as he walked off in the opposite direction.  
"Typical male," Jean said rolling her eyes. "Walking off and leaving us to carry all his luggage."  
Amy laughed. "That's actually pretty true of Matt," she agreed. "He usually leaves me and Jeff to carry it while he pays for the rentals."  
"Figures," Jean muttered as she attempted to carry all of her stuff. "Oh, screw this," she finally muttered. "Excuse me," she said as she found a porter. "Can I use your luggage cart?"  
"Sure miss," the man said as he loaded up the cart with all the luggage.  
"Thanks so much," she said as they arrived at the check-in counter for the flight. She tipped the man as they finished unloading the luggage onto the counter for the flight, and received their baggage claim checks.  
"Thanks miss, and you guys have a nice flight," the porter said as he walked away to see if anyone else needed his help.  
"Good idea kiddo," Jeff said as he gave his cousin a one-armed hug.  
"I know, I know," Jean said, accepting the praise. "I do have those every once in a while."  
"Yeah, you should have them more often," Jeff joked.  
"I'll see what I can do," she laughed.  
"Alright, let's go find the gate now," Amy said as they exited the check-in counter. "Dang, this airport is confusing," she complained as they wandered around.  
"There it is!" Jean said, pointing across the hallway.  
"Awesome," Jeff said. "How long do we have until the flight leaves? I'm really hungry."  
"Um, about half an hour," Amy said, checking her watch.  
"Cool. I'm gonna go run and buy some snacks for the flight," Jeff said, as he saw a miniature convenience store down the hallway.  
"I'm gonna go with him," Jean said. "I want to go buy some magazines or a book for the flight."  
"Okay," Amy said. "But remember that you guys have to hurry!"  
"We will Mom, I promise," Jeff joked.  
Amy stuck her tongue out at him.  
"Let's go short stuff," Jeff said as he headed out towards the store.  
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Jean complained, trying to keep up. She quickly grabbed both of the WWE magazines, the latest issues of Cosmopolitan and People, and a book of crossword puzzles to keep herself entertained during the long flight to Atlanta. She paid for her items and then rolled her eyes at Jeff, who was trying to decide which kind of candy he wanted. "Here," she said as she grabbed two Snickers bars, three bags of Skittles, and a package of Starburst and put them on the counter for him.  
"Great, thanks," Jeff said. "I never would have been able to decide."  
"Yeah, I know how you are when it comes to candy Jeff. C'mon, let's go," Jean told him as he paid for his candy and they headed for the gate.  
"So, how many different kinds of candy did Jeff get this time?" Amy asked.  
"Three," Jean said. "But only because I picked them out for him."  
  
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Amy laughed.  
"Oh you hush. Just because I love candy," Jeff pouted.  
"Bro, there's a difference between loving and being obsessed with. You're definitely obsessed," Matt told him.  
"Sooo???" Jeff protested.  
"Never mind," Jean laughed. "Let's just get on the plane," she said as their flight number was called. "So do you want the window, the middle, or the aisle?" she asked Amy, since Matt had had to buy an extra ticket since she was coming back with them, and he had volunteered to sit by himself.  
"Um, the window," Amy said.  
"Cool, I dibs the middle seat," Jean said quickly before Jeff could.  
"Hey!" he protested.  
"Sorry, I don't feel like getting hit with the carts or having people trip over me," Jean explained.  
"You suck," Jeff told her.  
"I know," she said happily as she settled into the middle seat for the long flight ahead. She opened the new Smackdown magazine and was flipping through the pages when she came to an article about John Cena.  
"Aww man, you're kidding right?" Jeff whined. "John Cena??"  
"What? I think he's hot!" Jean exclaimed. "Granted, he comes off as a moron, but he's cute!"  
"Who does?" Amy said, taking off her headphones to look at them.  
"The wannabe-rapper," Jeff explained.  
"Oh, John Cena? I think he's cute!" Amy said.  
"Not you too!" Jeff complained. "What is it with the girls and him?"  
"He's cute," Jean stated simply. "That's about all there is to it, although he is a pretty good wrestler too."  
"Um, okay then." Jeff rolled his eyes and put his headphones on and drifted off in his own little world.  
"It's just because he's jealous," Amy whispered to Jean.  
"Probably," Jean agreed as she glanced at Jeff out of the corner of her eye. "Alright well, I'm gonna go put on my headphones now, so I'll talk to you later."  
  
"Okie doke," Amy said as she put her own headphones back on.  
Jean put in her Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory CD and put it on Forgotten, her favorite song because it reminded her of her own situation and turned it up, then drifted off into her thoughts.  
  
Linkin Park – Forgotten: From the top to the bottom Bottom to top I stop At the core I've forgotten In the middle of my thoughts Taken far from my safety The picture is there The memory won't escape me But why should I care  
  
From the top to the bottom Bottom to top I stop At the core I've forgotten In the middle of my thoughts Taken far from my safety The picture is there The memory won't escape me But why should I care  
  
There's a place so dark you can't see the end Skies cock back and shock that which can't defend The rain then sends dripping an acidic question Forcefully, the power of suggestion Then with the eyes tightly shut looking thought the rust and rot And dust a spot of light floods the floor And pours over the rusted world of pretend The eyes ease open and its dark again  
  
From the top to the bottom Bottom to top I stop At the core I've forgotten In the middle of my thoughts Taken far from my safety The picture is there The memory won't escape me But why should I care  
  
In the memory you'll find me Eyes burning up The darkness holding me tightly Until the sun rises up  
  
Moving all around screaming of the ups and downs Pollution manifested in perpetual sound The wheels go round and the sunset creeps behind Street lamps, chain-link and concrete A little piece of paper with a picture drawn floats On down the street till the wind is gone The memory now is like the picture was then When the paper's crumpled up it can't be perfect again  
  
From the top to the bottom Bottom to top I stop At the core I've forgotten In the middle of my thoughts Taken far from my safety The picture is there The memory won't escape me But why should I care  
  
From the top to the bottom Bottom to top I stop At the core I've forgotten In the middle of my thoughts Taken far from my safety The picture is there The memory won't escape me But why should I care  
  
In the memory you'll find me Eyes burning up The darkness holding me tightly Until the sun rises up  
  
Now you got me caught in the act You bring the thought back I'm telling you that I see it right through you (x7)  
  
In the memory you'll find me Eyes burning up The darkness holding me tightly Until the sun rises up  
  
In the memory you'll find me Eyes burning up The darkness holding me tightly Until the sun rises up  
  
A/N: I do not own Linkin Park or the rights to "Forgotten". Please R&R and let me know what you think! Jean's love interest is going to be introduced in the next chapter, and although I think I know who I want to use – feel free to let me know who you think I should use! 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:  
Jeff stretched as he woke up slowly to Amy poking him in the shoulder. "What?" he whined.  
"We're getting ready to land," she told him.  
"Oh, okay," he said, then realized there was an unaccustomed weight on his shoulder, and he twisted his head to see Jean. He thought of all that she'd had to go through in the past year, and swore to himself that it would never happen again. Come hell or high water, he was going to be there to protect her if any man tried to raise a hand against her ever again. "Hey sweetie," he said softly as he shook her shoulder. "We're getting ready to land," he told her as she began to wake up.  
"Alright," she said as she turned her CD player off and put everything into her backpack, and shoved it under the seat in preparation for landing. She sat quietly in her seat while she waited for the plane to land in Atlanta where she would begin a whole new life away from that asshole her mother had married. As her thoughts took her further and further back into the memories she had tried to block, she abruptly shook herself out of it and leaned over to Jeff and hugged him tightly.  
Caught off guard Jeff jumped at the first contact, but once he realized what was going on, he wrapped his arms around Jean's shoulders and hugged her back. "Not that I'm complaining here because I'm your favorite cousin and all, but you would you mind explaining exactly what that was for?"  
"Thank you," Jean said simply as she turned to hug Amy. "I honestly don't know where I'd be right now if you guys hadn't come to my graduation."  
Amy hugged Jean tightly. "We're here for you no matter what hun."  
"Exactly," Jeff agreed as he hugged Jean from the other side and sandwiched her between himself and Amy. "I love you cuz and so does Matt, and there's no way that we would leave you in a situation like that if there was anything that we could do about it."  
"I know and I love you for it," Jean said, smiling up at him. "However, we're getting ready to land now so we should probably save this until we're off the plane."  
Amy shook her head and laughed. "Always the realist, aren't we?"  
Jean laughed. "Yeah, I guess." After that, she fell silent as she was deep in thought again. *Always the realist? Yeah, but only because I learned that it hurts too much to dream because they always come crashing down at your feet. Dreams are for people who've never been hurt. The last two times that I've let myself dream...well, to say that they both blew up in my face would be putting it mildly. One of those was Frank's marriage to my mom, and we all know how well that one turned out. But Jeremy – I just really thought he was different from all the other guys I knew. I loved him, but all I ever got from him was a broken heart.  
~Flashback~  
"Why Jeremy? Just answer me this one question. Why did you cheat on me, especially with Marissa Pendleton of all people?" I felt my heart breaking as I stared at Jeremy Wilson, my boyfriend of a year and a half. I was trying so hard to hold back the tears, but I knew that I wouldn't last much longer.  
Jeremy looked at me and laughed. "Do you honestly want to know?"  
"Yes!" I cried as I looked at him sadly.  
"Because Marissa is everything that you AREN'T. She's hot, she's smart, and my parents will actually like her," Jeremy said cruelly, looking down his nose at Jean. "Her family is at the same economic level as us, so I'll never have to worry that she's only dating me for my money."  
"Oh my God, Jeremy. You KNOW that I'm not dating you for your money. I've never asked you to pay for anything for me, and you know it. Hell, most of the time I paid for myself because I didn't want you to waste your money on me," I said as I broke down into tears. I sank down onto the steps to my front porch and buried my face in my hands as I tried to control my tears.  
"Jean," Jeremy said guiltily as he took a step towards me and tried to touch my shoulder, realizing that he had made a mistake.  
"NO!" I yelled at him, as I jumped to my feet, and looked at him through the tears streaming down my face. "Just....just go away Jeremy. I don't ever want to see you again," I sobbed as I turned and stumbled up my steps to my front door.  
"Jean," he tried again. "I still love you."  
"Well that's great," I said, turning around to look at him once last time. "You just broke my heart, and then you expect me to take you back when you say that you love me as if nothing was wrong? Things just don't work that way Jeremy. You made your choice between me and Marissa. Even though I do still love you....I don't want to be with you. It's over between us," I choked out as I looked at the boy I loved one last time before opening my front door and locking it.  
"Jean!" he yelled as he knocked on my front door. "Honey, we can work this out! You know that we can! Marissa was a mistake! I'm sorry!"  
I looked at the door, and ignored him as I walked down the hallway towards my room and turned Linkin Park on as loud as I could. I took my phone off the hook, and turned my cell phone off so that he would have no way to get ahold of me, and then curled up on my bed with a teddy bear that my father had bought me before he died and cried myself to sleep.  
~End Flashback~  
Jean was suddenly jarred out of her memories as the plane bounced when it landed on the runway.  
"You okay kiddo?" Jeff asked, noticing her sudden jump.  
"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about something and I zoned out for a bit," Jean explained.  
"Okay," Jeff said, accepting her answer at face value, not wanting to press her for information after the last couple of days. "Let's go," he said as they were finally allowed to exit the plane. "We'll meet Matt at the gate."  
"Okay," Jean said as she and Amy followed Jeff. "Hey cuz," Jean said when they reached Matt and she gave him a big hug.  
"Thanks sweetie," Matt said, although he was obviously confused.  
"Thanks," Jean said.  
"Don't worry about it hun," Matt said as he picked her up and spun her around in a circle. "Now let's go get the luggage and head for a hotel because I'm starving and exhausted. I spent the entire flight getting poked in the side by a four-year-old," he whined.  
"Aww, my poor baby," Amy murmured as she went over to rub Matt's shoulders. "I'll just have to make it up to you tonight."  
"WHOA! Too much information!" Jeff exclaimed, covering his ears. "So don't need to know that!"  
Amy flushed red as she remembered that Jeff and Jean were still there. "Oops," she said.  
Jean laughed and rolled her eyes. "I don't care what y'all do – just don't tell me about it, and we'll all be great, k?"  
"K," Amy agreed, laughing as she led the way to the baggage claim area where they stood around waiting for fifteen minutes before luggage finally began to appear on the carousel, at which point Matt left to go rent a car, and then for another twenty before they finally had all of everyone's luggage.  
"Okay, I got us a SUV for all this luggage," Matt joked, winking at Jean.  
"Hey now!" she pouted. "You have just as much stuff here as I do!"  
"So? I'm the driver and we get special privileges," Matt boasted.  
"Oh whatever," Amy said rolling here eyes. "Special privileges my ass. That's just code speak for Matt couldn't decide what to bring so he brought everything."  
  
"Hey!" Matt protested. "This is so not fair that you know me that well."  
"I know," Amy smiled gleefully as she leaned over to kiss her boyfriend. "You'll get over it."  
"I know," Matt pouted as they walked over to the black Explorer that Matt had rented and loaded up the luggage.  
"God, I can't wait to get to bed," Jean said as she laid down and put her head on Jeff's lap in the back seat.  
"We'll be there soon," Jeff said as he patted Jean's head.  
"Good," she said as she started to doze off again.  
"Wow, she's really tired," Matt whispered to Amy as they parked at the hotel. "I think Jeff might have to carry her into the hotel."  
"No, I'm awake," Jean said as she sat up and stretched.  
"That works," Amy laughed. "Alright, everyone grab their own luggage," Amy paused and shot a look at Matt, "and carry it up to the room."  
"What?!" Matt protested the look. "I always carry my own luggage."  
"Oh, whatever!" Amy and Jeff said in unison rolling their eyes. "Into the hotel maybe, but we always get stuck with it at airports!"  
"Oops," Matt said, as he realized they were right. "My bad," he apologized.  
"No kidding your bad," Jeff rolled his eyes. "Anyway, go check us in so that we can put Princess to sleep."  
"What'd you call me?" Jean asked, tilting her head.  
"Princess," Jeff repeated. "Why?"  
"I think I just found my ring name!" Jean said happily.  
"I dunno if they'll let you have that though – Stephanie gets referred to as the Billion Dollar Princess a lot. You'll have to ask Vince about it," Matt said.  
"Oh," Jean said thoughtfully. "I'll see what I can do."  
Amy laughed. "Oh lord. I actually feel sorry for Vince in this one," she said as she returned with the hotel keys. "We're on the fifth floor, let's go."  
Everyone walked over towards the elevator and made their way up to their suite where they promptly dropped their luggage in a pile as soon as they walked in the door. Jean headed straight for one of the double beds in the main room and laid down to sleep without even changing her clothes, and Matt and Amy headed for the king-sized bed in the other room.  
"What the heck," Jeff mumbled. "I love how I get ditched within thirty seconds of getting to the room. Jeez, I can tell I'm loved." He turned the TV on and muted it with the closed captioning on to watch until he finally was tired enough to fall asleep and laid down in the other double bed to sleep. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:  
"Do ya think we should wake her up?" Matt asked softly as he, Jeff, and Amy looked down at Jean's sleeping form. "It's three already, and we have to be at the arena in half an hour."  
"No," Amy whispered back. "Let her sleep because she definitely needs to catch up on it."  
"But how will she get into the arena without us?" Jeff asked curiously.  
"I'll leave her my pass and money for a cab," Amy said. "Let me just write her a note so that she'll know where to go and everything." Amy quickly wrote all the information that Jean would need on a piece of paper, and put it on the nightstand next to her bed along with the pass and money for a cab. "Let's go," she said quietly to the guys as they headed towards the door.  
*Knock Knock*  
Jean woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door invaded her consciousness. She glanced over at the clock to see that it was 4:55 PM and her eyes widened. "Who is it?" she called as she climbed out of the bed. When no one answered she shrugged and figured that someone had knocked on the wrong door and then realized their error. She glanced at the nightstand and picked up Amy's note, and she had just started to read it when the person knocked again. "Who is it?" she asked nervously and paled when there was still no response. She tiptoed to the door and peered through the peephole and breathed a sigh of relief when she recognized the person on the other side of the door. She quickly unlocked the door and pulled it open, and then stuck her tongue out at the person on the other side of the door. "You just scared the crap out of me, you know that?" she complained to Trish Stratus, another of the women wrestlers in the WWE and Amy's best friend.  
Trish jumped as she heard Jean's voice. "Crap! Sorry, I didn't realize that you'd woken up yet because I was zoning out." The blonde flushed and looked at her feet.  
"Are you okay?" Jean asked curiously, wondering about the blonde's odd behavior.  
"Um, yeah," Trish said. "I'm just having men problems."  
  
"Oh hell, that's normal then," Jean said rolling her eyes. "Men are a problem that no one has figured out the answer to."  
  
Trish laughed. "Isn't that the truth. But anyway, Amy and the guys wanted me to come wake you up since I had tonight off."  
"Yeah, I was definitely still asleep," Jean admitted and laughed at herself. "It felt so good though."  
  
"Yeah, sleep is always good, and you can never get enough of it in this business," Trish said longingly. "But anyway, they want you to hurry up and get ready so that you can head to the arena because Vince wants to talk to you before the show begins."  
  
"Okay, thanks Trish," Jean smiled at her. "I'll hurry up and get ready now."  
"Cool," Trish said. "Well, I guess I'll see you later because I'm going to go work out in the gym downstairs," the blonde said as she started to walk away.  
"Alright, I'll see you later then. Oh, by the way Trish, if you want to talk about the man problem later I'm more than willing to listen," Jean offered.  
"Thanks," Trish smiled at her. "I'll get back to you on that if I can't figure it out on my own."  
  
"Deal. I'll talk to you later then!" Jean called down the hallway to Trish and then she headed back into the suite to get ready for her meeting with Vince. She hopped in the shower, and then blow-dried her hair and pulled it up into a high ponytail, then walked out into the bedroom to go through her suitcase. She finally decided on a black skirt that stopped a little above her knees, and a three-quarter length white oxford shirt with a white tank underneath and black boots. She got dressed quickly, put on her jewelry and make-up, and then put the pass, money, and the keycard to the room in her purse and headed out after spraying herself with Velocity, her favorite perfume. She stopped at the front desk and requested a cab, then went outside to wait for it because it was so nice out. The cab arrived about five minutes later, and she told him where to go and then paid him once they arrived. She grabbed Amy's pass and put it on as she walked to the back entrance of the building where Amy had told her to go.  
"Hi," she said to the security guard standing there. "My name's Jean Hardy, and I have an interview with Vince McMahon tonight."  
"Really?" the man said sarcastically. "I wasn't informed of anyone other than the established wrestlers coming tonight so I won't be able to let you in."  
"I'm Jeff and Matt Hardy's cousin though, and Amy Dumas gave me her pass so that I'd be able to get in," Jean explained quickly, hoping that the man would let her in. She knew there was no way she could get past the man who looked like he weighed about 400 lbs.  
His eyes narrowed and he looked at her pass. "That's Amy's pass alright, but I want to know how you stole it from her," he said harshly, glaring at her.  
"I didn't steal it! She gave it to me!" Jean exclaimed, wilting under the man's glare. "She's going out with my cousin Matt and she gave it to me so that I could get in!"  
  
"I'm sorry, I can't let you in unless I've been told by one of the McMahons," the security guard said to her. "You're not getting anywhere."  
Jean paled and looking at the ground she turned and ran right into someone. "Oh shit," she said as she started to fall, but then someone quickly caught her and kept her from falling. "Oh, thanks," she said as she looked up into the face of the man who'd saved her. *Wow, he's really, really hot! I don't know who he is, but damn...can I keep him?* Jean thought to herself as she smiled at him.  
"Not a problem," he said, smiling at her. He looked down at her, then at the security guard and raised an eyebrow. "So what exactly is the problem here?" he asked.  
"She says that she's the Hardy's cousin, and she has an interview with your father," the security guard explained. "She has Lita's pass, but I can't let her in because I wasn't told to expect anyone."  
*Wait, his father? This is Vince McMahon's son? Aww, dammit. That means he's hands off.* Jean thought dejectedly.  
The man nodded. "I'll take responsibility for her," he said. "I know my father was expecting their cousin tonight, but from the way he talked I thought it was a guy, but apparently I was wrong," he said, winking at Jean.  
"Alright Shane," the guard said as he opened the door to let them in.  
"Thank you so much," Jean said as she turned to Shane once they were inside. "I didn't think I was ever going to get in here."  
  
Shane laughed. "It's not a problem," he said. "I knew my dad was expecting someone, and I figured that since I was there I could help you out."  
  
"It's very, very much appreciated," Jean said. "But um, can you help me out one more time?"  
"With what?" Shane smiled at her.  
"Can you show me where their dressing room is?" she asked nervously.  
"Of course," Shane said. "Follow me." He led her down a maze of interconnecting hallways, and finally stopped at a door that said 'Hardy Boyz' on it and knocked.  
"Just a second!"  
Jean laughed as she heard Matt's voice from inside. "Five to one he's making out with Amy," she said, rolling her eyes.  
Shane laughed. "More than likely," he agreed.  
"Well anyway, thanks for helping me out tonight," Jean said, smiling at him.  
"You're very welcome," Shane said again. "You can stop thanking me at any time now," he teased.  
Jean laughed. "Okay then, see if I ever thank you for anything again," she joked.  
Shane rolled his eyes. "Now that's taking it a bit far," he laughed.  
Jean grinned. "Okay, I'll thank you for important things then. Deal?"  
"Deal."  
"Alright well, I guess I will see you around when I have my interview with Mr. McMahon and everything," Jean said shyly, looking down at her feet. She gave Shane a quick hug, and then disappeared into the locker room as Matt opened the door. "Bye!" she called to him.  
"Bye," Shane replied, and then he walked away shaking his head. He had a feeling that things were going to get interesting around here. His cell phone started ringing then, and he looked down at the caller ID and smiled widely. "Hi honey," he said as he answered his wife's call. 


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thank you everyone for the reviews, especially huntersgirl for the multiple reviews :) I'm glad you like my story!!!!!!!  
  
Chapter 8:  
Jean walked into the locker room and collapsed onto the couch with a big smile on her face  
"So why exactly were you with Shane McMahon?" Matt asked with a raised eyebrow.  
"Because the security guard wouldn't let me in since no one told him to expect me," Jean explained.  
"But I gave you my pass!" Amy complained.  
"Yeah, he thought that I stole it," Jean told her. "But luckily Shane came along and he knew that his father was supposed to meet with me tonight so he took responsibility for me and brought me here."  
"Well, at least Shane was there to get you into the building," Amy said.  
"Yeah," Jean sighed with a big smile on her face.  
Amy raised an eyebrow at the look on Jean's face. She had a feeling that she wasn't going to like this. "Why don't you come with me so I can introduce you to some of the other wrestlers?" She really wanted to find out what was up with that smile without Matt being around.  
"Okay," Jean said and pushed herself up off the couch. "See ya later cuz," she said to Matt as they walked out.  
"Bye girls," Matt said as he gave Amy a quick kiss on the cheek.  
"Bye hon," Amy said. She waited until they were far enough away from the door that Matt couldn't hear them, and then she started prying for information. "So what's up with that grin?"  
"What grin?" Jean asked, trying to act innocent.  
"The big cheesy thing you've had on your face ever since Shane McMahon brought you to the locker room," Amy said pointedly.  
"Oh, that grin," Jean flushed. "Um, well....he's really cute...and really sweet...and I think I might be getting a crush on him," she confessed shyly.  
Amy shook her head. She really didn't want to be the one to burst Jean's bubble, but it had to be done. "He's also thirty and married," she said quietly.  
"Oh," Jean said sadly, looking at her feet.  
"I'm not saying that Shane isn't a nice guy, because he definitely is," Amy clarified. "But he's definitely off limits. However, if you meet another wrestler in the company that you think you might be interested in, feel free to come to me or Trish and ask us about them. We'll give you all the information that we can about them...at least as long as you don't tell Matt or Jeff," Amy finished with a wink.  
Jean laughed. "Works for me."  
"Cool," Amy smiled. "Anyway, I'll take you to the women's locker room first and introduce you to a couple of the girls, and then you can head to your meeting with Vince since I have to valet Matt and Jeff's match against the Dudley Boyz."  
"Okay," Jean said, nodding. She followed Amy into the women's dressing room, and her jaw dropped at the scene of utter chaos that was in front of her.  
"Welcome to the war zone," Amy joked.  
Jean laughed. "I can see why you'd call it that."  
"Hey y'all," Amy called to the three women who were currently in the room. "This is Jean, Matt and Jeff's cousin, and she's going to start working here in a couple of weeks."  
"Hi," Jean said shyly looking at the famous faces in the room with her.  
"Hi, I'm Lilian Garcia," the little blonde standing closest to the door said, smiling at her.  
"I'm Stacy Keibler," said the tall, leggy blonde standing across the room.  
"I'm Lisa, but you'd know me as Victoria, and no, I'm not actually as psychotic as I come off in the ring," the only brunette in the room said with a laugh.  
"That's comforting," Jean joked as she tried not to be star-struck.  
"I think you'll be just fine around here," Lisa said with a smile.  
"Thanks, that's good to hear," Jean smiled.  
"Alright well, I've gotta go run and round up Jeff from the catering area so that he can get ready for the match, so I'll tell you how to get to Vince's office real quick," Amy said as she looked at her watch.  
"It was nice to meet y'all," Jean said as she started to follow Amy out of the room.  
"Bye girls!" Amy called as they left. "Anyway, you wanna follow this hallway until it dead-ends into another one, then you want to turn right, and then go down to the second hallway and turn left, then you'll turn right into the first hallway after that, and it's the second door on your right," she explained quickly.  
"Okay, dead-end, right, left, right. I think I can remember that," Jean said.  
"Alright, good luck with your interview and I'll see you after the match!" Amy said as she dashed off to collect Jeff.  
Jean headed off in the direction that Amy had pointed, trying to go over the directions in her mind. *Oh shit, was it right or left at the second hallway? Um, I think it was right* she decided and turned to her right. *Okay, then I turn left at the first hallway after that, which is here and then I...* "Oof!" she yelped as she ran into someone as turned the corner and landed on her ass. She flushed as she heard male laughter coming from above her head, and looked up into the face of the hottest guy she'd ever seen. "Um, hi," she said nervously. "I guess I sure know how to make an impression," she said from her position on the floor.  
"I would say so," he chuckled as he held out a hand to help her up.  
"Thanks," she said, still flushed a bright red.  
"So do you do this kind of thing often?" he asked.  
"What kind of thing?" Jean replied, although she was still too embarrassed to do much more than stare at her feet.  
"Run into people," he explained.  
"Oh, no, not usually at least," Jean said quickly. "I'm usually slightly more graceful than that, and if I do run into people – well, at least I don't usually end up on my ass," she said deprecatingly, shaking her head at her own clumsiness.  
He laughed and shook his head. "Out of curiosity, where exactly were you headed in such a hurry?"  
"I'm supposed to meet with Vince McMahon," Jean told him, as she waited for the red to leave her face before she looked at him again.  
"Really?" he said curiously. "Well, you're heading in the complete wrong direction."  
"Am I? Damn it, I should have known better than to trust Amy's directions," Jean complained. "Well, then again, knowing me I probably took a wrong turn somewhere," she said, shaking her head at her own lack of direction.  
The guy laughed again, amused by her ability to make fun of herself and to admit when she was wrong. *Not to mention* he thought as he looked at her appraisingly, *she was definitely cute – about 5'4", dark brown hair pulled up in a ponytail, green eyes, with an athletic body that was shown off by her short skirt and tight button-down shirt.* "Well, here, I don't have anything to do right now so I'll show you where to go," he offered.  
"Really? Thank you so much!" Jean exclaimed. "It's really nice of you, considering that I just ran into you," she said, then blushed again at the memory of her klutziness.  
"No, it's fine. I'd rather have you run into me than, say Chris Benoit, because it would hurt a lot more if it had been him," the guy teased.  
"I suppose," Jean said with a shy smile up at him. *Holy crap...this has definitely got to be the cutest guy I have ever seen. I can't believe I just ran into him like that – I am so embarrassed...but at least he seems to be taking it well.*  
"C'mon, I'll show you where his office is," he said as he headed off into the direction that she had just come from.  
*At least he knows his way through this rat maze they call the backstage area.* Jean thought as she followed him through the endless maze of hallways and doors. "Oh, here's where I went wrong," she realized. "I turned right instead of left here."  
The guy laughed. "That'd do it then," he said, smiling down at her. He stopped a few seconds later outside a door with a sign that said 'Office' on it. "Here you go," he said.  
"Thank you so much. You have no idea how lost I would have gotten if you hadn't shown me the way," Jean said gratefully.  
He laughed again. "I think I have an idea of how lost you can get," he said with a wink.  
Jean flushed again. "Yes, well, not all of us were blessed with a good sense of direction," she said and stuck her tongue out at him. *Wow, I'm mature.* she thought, rolling her eyes at herself mentally.  
He laughed again. *She's definitely cute...not to mention not incredibly fake like most of the other women here.* "Well, good luck on your interview, and I guess I'll be seeing you around then," he said as he turned to leave.  
"Sure," she said as she smiled up at him. "Well, thanks again."  
  
"Not a problem," he said. "It's always a pleasure to help a woman in distress...even when they try to physically abuse me."  
"Hey!" she complained. "I didn't do it on purpose! How was I supposed to know that you'd be coming around the corner?"  
"I guess you have a point there," he said with a grin. "But then again...if you'd been where you were supposed to be, we wouldn't be having this problem, now would we?"  
"Oh go away," Jean said, rolling her eyes at him. "Go pick on someone your own size!"  
"Um, sure. I'll get right on that," he said jokingly. "But then again, it's more fun to pick on you."  
Jean stuck her tongue out at him. "Bye now," she said, shaking her head in pretend exasperation.  
"Alright, fine then. Be that way," he pouted.  
Jean laughed and turned away from him to knock on the door.  
"Come in!" she heard a shout from inside.  
She turned back to the cute guy who'd helped her out. "Well, I guess I'll see you around then, and hopefully the next time it won't be because I'm lost and I run into you."  
"Well, if it comes down to that, I guess I'll get over it. It's not every day that a pretty girl runs into me, at least not literally," he teased her as he walked off in the other direction. "Bye princess," he said over his shoulder.  
*Princess. What's up with everyone calling me Princess all of a sudden? Not that I'm complaining, because I think it'd be cool to have that as a ring name, but it's just kinda come up out of nowhere. But dayum, he was hot. And maybe it was just me, but I definitely thought he was flirting with me.* Jean thought as she took a minute to gather her thoughts and composure before she opened the door to Vince's office. "Mr. McMahon?" she asked shyly as she walked in the door.  
"Yes?" he said, looking up from the paperwork on his desk.  
"Hi, I'm Jean Hardy. Jeff said that you wanted to speak to me about giving me a possible spot on Raw...?" Jean trailed off, leaving the statement as a question.  
"Oh yes," Vince said as he made the connection. "You're Jeff's cousin who was abused right?" he asked.  
Jean flushed and looked down at her feet. "Yes, that would be me," she said sadly.  
Vince flushed as he realized how callous he'd just sounded. "I'm so sorry," he apologized quickly. "I didn't mean for that to come out the way it did."  
"No, it's okay," Jean said. "I'd just rather that that information didn't get out to anyone else, because it's not really anything that I would like to be common knowledge."  
Vince nodded. "I can do that. But anyway, exactly what did you want your role in the company to be?"  
"Well, Jeff said that you would probably put me as a manager for someone for a while, and then if I was lucky, I could possibly start training to be one of the female wrestlers," Jean said quickly, trying not to get her hopes up.  
Vince nodded slowly, as he thought about the possibilities. "Do you want to be face or heel?" he asked.  
"Honestly? I don't really care. I'll take whatever I can get right now," Jean said.  
Vince laughed. "Well, that works. It's good to be flexible, which is something that a lot of the divas in this company don't seem to understand. Let's see," he mused. "If you wanted to be heel, I could put you with Evolution or with La Resistance. Evolution could definitely use a female presence because their storyline has been getting rather dull lately, but then again....La Resistance could use an American female to put them in their place..." he trailed off as he thought about the possibilities. "If you wanted to be face...I suppose I could put you with The Hurricane, as a female fighter for justice, etc, etc...I can't put you with your cousins because Lita already has that job, which is unfortunate because I think you would have worked well with them..."  
"I think I'll be heel," Jean decided. "Because that way we can always turn my character to face later depending on the situations."  
Vince nodded. "Okay, now I'll just have to decide if I want to put you with Evolution or with La Resistance."  
Jean shrugged. "I have no real preference there. They're both basically the same to me."  
"Okay, I'll figure that one out and let you know for sure when you return in two weeks," Vince decided. "Here's your contract if you want to go ahead and sign it now, or you can bring it back with you in two weeks if you want to look over it first."  
  
"I think I'll take it with me, that way I can look over it and see if I agree with everything," Jean said.  
"That's fine. Well, I guess I'll see you again in two weeks," Vince said finally, ending the interview. "By then, you'll need to come up with a ring name as well if you don't want to use your own name."  
"I want to use the ring name Princess," Jean said nervously, remembering what her cousins had said about Stephanie being the Billion Dollar Princess.  
"Princess," Vince said quietly. "It should work," he said a few minutes later. "That would be fine for whatever storyline I put you in actually because you can be a good princess or a bad one. Perfect," he said enthusiastically. "I think I know exactly where I want to take this!"  
Jean breathed a sigh of relief when her request was granted. "Awesome," she said happily. "Well, I'll get out of your way then and I'll see you in two weeks then," she said as she picked up her contract.  
"Fine, fine," Vince said as he returned to the paperwork on his desk. "See you soon."  
Jean walked out of the room and closed the door behind her, and then did a little happy dance in the hallway. "Yay!" she cheered as she headed back towards the locker room that Amy was sharing with Matt and Jeff.  
  
A/N #2: So do you think that Jean should be put with Evolution or La Resistance? Not to mention, who do you think the mystery guy is? :) 


	9. Chapter 9

A/N 1: Again, thank you so much for the reviews everyone!!!! :)  
  
Chapter 9:  
Jean bounced happily on her way back to the locker room, and a big smile broke across her face when she saw Trish ahead of her. "Trish!" she called as she ran up behind her.  
"Hey girly girl," Trish said with a smile as she turned around to see who was calling her name.  
"I thought you were staying at the hotel?" Jean asked curiously.  
"Oh, well, I got bored, and I decided that I needed to get up the balls to do something," Trish explained.  
"Ah, the man problem?" Jean raised an eyebrow.  
"Exactly," Trish said. "If I don't do it now, then I know I'll never get up the guts to do it...so I'm going to get it over with."  
"Awesome," Jean smiled. "So who's the lucky guy?"  
"Well, you're about to find out in about thirty seconds. Here, come with me," Trish said as she opened the door to the catering area.  
"Okie doke," Jean said, following her in. She really meant to watch Trish, but her attention was caught as soon as she walked in the door by the guy she'd run into earlier. He was sitting at a table with another guy, and she couldn't help but stare. *God, but he's SO hot.* she thought.  
"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" Trish asked shyly to a guy sitting at a table by himself reading a newspaper.  
"Yeah, sure," he said, putting his paper down. "What can I do for you Trish?"  
Jean snapped herself back to attention as she heard the man ask Trish that question, and her jaw dropped as she realized who Trish had a crush on. *Chris Jericho?!?! What the heck is up with that?! Out of all the people here...I definitely didn't think that Trish would like him. Hell, I don't even think he's all that cute! He definitely needs to cut his hair!* Jean thought as she wrinkled her nose.  
"Hey little girl!" a familiar voice called.  
Jean jumped suddenly and looked around to see the guy from earlier beckoning her over. "Hi," she said shyly as she walked in his direction.  
"How'd your interview go?" he asked her.  
"Pretty well actually, I'm hired and I start in two weeks," she said happily, holding up her contract. "I just have to review this and sign it, then bring it back to him in two weeks."  
  
"That's good. I'm glad you got the job you came for," he said sincerely.  
"Me too," she grinned.  
"So do you know what you're going to be doing?" he asked.  
"Yeah, I'm going to be working as a manager," she told him.  
"Well, I figured that much," he said, rolling his eyes. "Do you know who you'll be working with, if you'll be face or heel, etc. etc.?"  
"I know I'll be a heel character, but he hadn't decided who to put me with when I left. He was going back and forth between two different groups," she answered.  
"That's cool," he said with a smile. *So she's heel...hmm, that means that she might be with us! Nah, probably not....I'm not that lucky.* he thought to himself. "Which groups were they?"  
"Evolution and La Resistance is what Mr. McMahon told me," Jean said.  
"Cool, cool," he said nonchalantly, trying to act like it wasn't a big deal. *Okay so I was wrong...maybe I might have a chance with her!*  
"Jean!"  
Jean turned her head as she heard someone call her name. "What's up Trish?" she asked the blonde diva as Trish walked in her direction.  
"C'mon, let's head back to the locker room so you can let Amy and the boys know how your interview went," Trish said as she reached her. "Hi guys," she said to the two men Jean was sitting with.  
"Hey Trish," the cute guy said, and then was echoed by his friend.  
"Okay, well I guess I'll see you around," Jean said him, and then flashed a quick smile at his friend, even though they hadn't said anything to each other, and followed Trish out the door.  
  
~Mystery Man's POV~  
"See ya," I called after her, and then turned back to my friend, who just stared at me.  
"How in holy hell did you pull that off?" he asked.  
"Pull what off?" I asked, with a big smile.  
"The first cute new girl without an attitude to come through the doors of this place in God knows how long...and you're already on speaking terms with her within the first day," he said.  
I laughed. "She ran into me in the hallway while she was looking for Vince's office and was completely lost," I explained.  
"Ran into you?" he asked skeptically.  
"Ran into me," I repeated. "At full speed and landed on her ass." I chuckled at the memory. "Not that I minded, because she's pretty damn cute."  
"Well no shit," his friend said, rolling his eyes. "If you hook up with her, and she's got a friend like herself...I call dibs."  
I grinned and shook my head, "I'll see what I can do, but I make no guarantees. After all, she said she didn't know if Vince was putting her with Evolution or La Resistance. So she might be with us, and she might not."  
His friend nodded. "Hey, we can always hope at least," he joked.  
"Yeah, I'll definitely be doing some of that. Oh well, we better head back to the locker room to get ready for the match," I said as I stood up and headed out the door to our locker room.  
  
~Back to Jean & Trish~  
"So how'd it go?" Jean asked as they walked back towards the locker room.  
"He said yes!" Trish exclaimed happily with a big grin on her face. "We're going out tonight after the show."  
"Awesome!" Jean cheered. "I'm so happy for you Trish!"  
"Yeah, I'm proud of myself," Trish said with a big smile. "I hardly ever get the guts up to ask someone out, and I've liked him for almost a year."  
"Yay!" Jean cheered. "I hope it all works out for you."  
  
"Yeah, me too," Trish smiled again. She just had this happy glow about her along with a big, cheesy grin on her face...but she didn't care. She was happy. "So," she said, turning the conversation to Jean, "why were you sitting with them in the catering area?"  
"Who's them?" Jean asked, momentarily confused.  
"Those two guys," Trish said, as if the explanation was obvious.  
"Oh!" Jean said as it registered. "I ran into one of them in the hallway earlier when I got lost looking for Mr. McMahon's office."  
"Ran into him?" Trish asked, confused.  
"Yeah, turned a corner and wasn't paying attention and ran into him at full speed and landed on my ass," Jean flushed as she relived the memory. "My butt still hurts!" she whined.  
Trish laughed. "Oh man, I can just see you doing that too. But that still doesn't explain why you were with him."  
"He took me to Mr. McMahon's office after I ran into him, and he was really nice about it too. I kinda expected him to be a real jerk because after all, I did run into him, but he was really sweet. He took me there, and then told me that he'd see me around, and then he said hi to me when we walked into catering and asked how my interview went, so I just kinda started talking to him," Jean explained.  
"Oh, okay," Trish said as she began to understand. "That's kinda odd though. He has a reputation for being an arrogant ass...but hey, if he's going to be nice, I'm definitely not going to complain for your sake."  
"Really?" Jean asked. "He was really nice the whole time."  
"That's a good thing though, maybe he'll start being nicer to everyone now," Trish mused. "But then again, that's probably just wishful thinking."  
"I don't think so," Jean contradicted her. "He was really nice to me."  
  
"That's very true," Trish agreed. "Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens."  
"So, can you tell me what his name is?" Jean asked shyly.  
"What? You don't know what his name is?" Trish laughed. "You ran into him, and he took you halfway around the backstage area...and you never asked his name?"  
"I never thought about it," Jean admitted. "I just kinda thought about him as being 'the really cute guy that I ran into'."  
Trish shook her head and started to answer her question when they were interrupted by a familiar voice.  
"The really cute guy that you ran into?" Matt asked with a raised eyebrow as he came up to them. "Would you care to explain Jean?"  
"Um, no, not really," she said, smiling innocently up at her cousin.  
Matt rolled his eyes. "You're hopeless sunshine."  
  
"I know," she grinned.  
"Alright, well, you and Trish can have your little talk and I'll go on into the locker room and pretend this never happened, ok?" Matt said.  
"Okay," Jean agreed happily.  
"WRONG!" Matt exclaimed as he pounced and started tickling her. "You have to tell me everything little one!"  
  
"Owwww! MATTHEW!! That hurts!" Jean gasped out in pain as Matt started to tickle her bruised sides.  
"Oh my God, honey I'm so sorry," Matt said, getting off her instantly. "I completely forgot!" he said, flushing as he realized what he'd done.  
"It's okay Matt, I'll forgive you. That just—really hurt," Jean said, as slowly got up, avoiding touching her sides.  
"Okay, quit torturing the little one," Jeff said as he came up to them.  
"I didn't do it on purpose!" Matt exclaimed. "I forgot about the bruises, and I was upset that she wouldn't tell me what cute guy she was asking Trish about.  
"Oh really?" Jeff asked, then looked at his cousin, who was trying to catch her breath. "Who exactly is this guy? Would you please tell me?"  
"NO!" she cried, as she slowly backed away from her cousin, not trusting the look in his eyes.  
"Okay, that doesn't work," Jeff said as he slowly walked towards her, and poked her in the shoulder. "Spill!" he commanded.  
"This—is so---not FAIR!" Jean complained as she tried to get away from her cousins.  
"Hey you two!" Amy exclaimed as she came upon the scene. "Leave her alone!"  
"Aww," Jeff complained as Matt immediately did what his girlfriend commanded. "You're so whipped that it's not cool!"  
  
"Yeah, but I'm happy," Matt said as he hugged Amy.  
"Aww," Trish and Jeff said in unison and pretended to gag themselves.  
"Oh shut up," Amy said, rolling her eyes. "So what was all this about?" she asked, looking at her boyfriend.  
"Jean was asking Trish a question about a guy, and she wouldn't tell me or Jeff what was going on," Matt told her, pouting.  
"I don't blame her," Amy said, tossing her hair. "Y'all are two of the biggest motormouths in the WWE! Now why don't you be good little boys and go take a shower, so that the three of us can have a girl talk," she said commandingly.  
"Yes, sir captain sir!" Jeff said mockingly and saluted her as he walked off into the locker room to take a shower.  
Matt rolled his eyes at his girlfriend and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before following Jeff into the room. "Yes dear," he said.  
"I love being in control," Amy said as she flexed her arm muscles jokingly  
Trish laughed. "You have that boy soo whipped."  
  
"I know," Amy said proudly. "But anyway...on to the guy in question. Fill me in!"  
Jean quickly explained what had happened, and then turned back to Trish. "So are you ever going to tell me who he is???" she pleaded.  
"Well," Trish said thoughtfully. "I'm not sure if I should."  
"TRISH!!" Jean complained.  
Trish laughed at the younger girl's face. "His name is...."  
  
A/N 2: Muahaha! I'm going to be evil & wait until I get more reviews with which group I should put her with & who the guy should be :) 


	10. Chapter 10

A/N 1: Thanks everyone for all the reviews, and congratulations to Latisha C – you were exactly right! Since it was nearly a unanimous vote to put Jean with Evolution, that's where she'll be put for now...but I'm not guaranteeing anything about how long she'll stay there!  
  
Chapter 10:  
Trish paused for effect and smiled down at the younger girl's pleading face.  
"Jeez Trish, put the girl out of her misery," Amy said, rolling her eyes at the blonde's theatrics.  
"Oh hush Amy, you know you want to know too!" Trish said.  
"Soo???" Amy declared innocently.  
Trish laughed. "Rene Dupree," she said finally.  
"WHAT?" Amy flipped out. "Rene? But...but...he's the biggest jerk around!"  
"He is not!" Jean protested, standing up for him. "He was really sweet to me. I honestly don't think that I ever would have made it to Vince's office without his help!"  
Amy paused for a second. She did have to admit that it was really nice of him to help Jean find her way to Vince's office, especially if Jean had ran into him the way that she had described, but then again...from her experiences with Rene, and those of her friends he usually came off as an asshole. He was incredibly cocky, and he always had to have the last word, no matter what. "I don't know," she finally said. "That's just not the Rene that I know, so it's hard for me to picture him being this nice sweet guy."  
  
"It's true though," Trish said. "I saw it with my own eyes. He was being really nice to her. I've never seen him be that nice and polite to anyone other than Sylvan and Rob Conway."  
"Maybe he's just changing his attitude," Jean suggested. "It could be that he doesn't like the way that he's being portrayed in the company."  
"Who knows." Amy shrugged and looked at her watch. "Well, we're done for the night, so if you want to go with me and collect your cousins, we can head back to the hotel for the night. What time does your flight leave...what the hell???" Amy cut herself off abruptly as three men ran past her.  
"You're just jealous!" Jeff yelled to his pursuers, the Dudley Boys, who were being closely followed by the cameramen. "Matt and I are a much better tag team than you two will ever be!"  
"You have NO idea what you're talking about Hardy!" D-Von Dudley yelled as he and Bubba attempted to catch up to Jeff. "Bubba and I are the best tag team in the WWE and you know it! You're just a second rate tag team trying to be the best, and you know what, it's not going to happen because that position is already occupied by me and Bubba!"  
"Yeah!" Bubba echoed as he managed to catch up with Jeff and tackled him to the floor from behind. He and D-Von then pretended to beat the crap out of Jeff, ending with a knockout shot from a chair that was leaning against the wall. "See if you ever mess with us again Hardy," he said arrogantly as he and D-Von strolled off camera leaving Jeff's unconscious body lying there.  
Jean looked shocked for a second as she stared at her cousin's motionless body lying in the middle of the hallway. She paled as she remembered what it felt like to have someone beating you mercilessly and fell into a flashback.  
  
~Flashback~  
"You stupid bitch! Get your ass in here! I told you NOT to be late for curfew, and WHAT do you do? You waltz in the door TEN minutes late and act like NOTHING is wrong! This is MY house and you obey MY rules. That means you're home AT the time that I TELL YOU, not whenever the HELL YOU feel like it!" Frank screamed in her face as he pulled her in the front door of their house and slammed the door shut behind her. He backhanded her across the face, sending her skidding across the hardwood floor to land in a heap against the leather couch in the living room across from the front door. He walked up to her as she tried to stand up and furiously started punching and kicking her body until she lay in a lifeless ball on the floor. "Get UP you stupid WHORE! Get your ass to your room and you better NEVER disobey MY rules again!" Frank yelled at her.  
Jean bit her lip as she attempted to pull herself to her feet. Every part of her body ached, and she really thought that he might have broken a few of her ribs this time. She'd managed to pull herself up to a halfway standing position again when Frank suddenly backhanded her again and she fell backwards over the couch, only to roll off and hit her head on the coffee table next to it.  
"When I tell you to get UP, I mean get up NOW, not five minutes from now. So get your goddamn ass up to your room where I don't have to see your ugly face you fucking little bitch!" Frank screamed, his hands clenched into fists.  
Jean put a hand to the back of her head to feel the knot forming there and managed to push herself to her feet by using the coffee table. She slowly made her way around it, trying not to stumble and although she tried to stay out of Frank's reach on her way to the hallway, she didn't quite succeed, and he grabbed her arm and pulled her up to him.  
"You ungrateful little bitch. You have no idea how much shit I have to put up with when it comes to you. You're nothing but a waste of a space, a sorry excuse for a human being, and a complete waste of air and tissue. Get the fuck out of my face you stupid whore, and maybe if I'm lucky when I wake up you'll be dead and I'll never have to deal with you worthless piece of shit again," Frank chuckled as he thought of the delightful situation he had created. "Of course, I can't kill you because then your mother would suspect something...but of course you could always kill yourself. No one would miss you after all. But then again, it's just a friendly suggestion," he finished, staring down at her with cold eyes. "Now get the hell out of my face," he said as he shoved her down the hallway, only to laugh as she tripped over her own feet and landed face down on the carpet. "Now that's a sight that can always make me happy," he gloated as he saw her lifeless body laying there by itself.  
Jean tried not to make a sound as she attempted to push herself up again, at least long enough to open her door and make it into her bedroom. She finally managed it about five minutes later, and stumbled into her room, holding onto the door for balance. She managed to shut it by leaning against it, and locked it behind herself and made her way over to her bed and collapsed on it. She didn't have the energy to change or take off her make-up...she just wanted to try and forget that her life was even happening. She longed for the way that things had been before her mother had married Frank...and she just wished that one day her mom would wake up and realize what she'd married, and then everything would be fine again. ~End Flashback~  
Jean winced in remembered pain as she stared at Jeff's body, and forced herself not to run to his side because she realized that they were still filming for the show. What seemed like decades later, the cameramen turned their cameras off and walked away, and Jean ran over to him. "Jeff, are you okay?" she asked nervously.  
"Yeah, I'm fine," Jeff said, sitting up quickly now that he was informed that they were off camera.  
"Oh my God, Jeff...that just scared the life out of me," Jean admitted, her face pale.  
"Oh God, Jean, you weren't supposed to see that!" Jeff exclaimed as he realized what his cousin had just witnessed. "I didn't want you to be around when we filmed it because I thought it might bring back..." he trailed off as he saw the sad look on his cousin's face. "It did, didn't it?" he asked guiltily, a feeling that only increased when Jean simply nodded instead of answering his question. He quickly stood up and pulled her to him in a hug, remembering to put his arms around her shoulders after what had happened when Matt tried to tickle her earlier. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through that sweetheart, but I swear on my life that it will never happen again."  
"I love you Jeff," Jean said as she hugged her cousin tightly, "and I know that you'll do whatever you can to protect me. I have no idea what I would do without you, Matt, and Amy in my life."  
  
"HEY!" Trish protested as she and Amy reached them in time to hear the last comment. "I love how I get left out of that!"  
Jean turned her head away from Jeff's chest and laughed. "Don't worry about it Trish, my life wouldn't be the same without you either."  
  
"Good!" Trish said with a smile. "Besides, if it wasn't for me...you wouldn't have the information that you wanted," she winked.  
"So true," Jean agreed. "I very much appreciate it." She definitely appreciated Trish's attempt to bring the attention away from what had just happened to a lighter situation. She didn't know how much that Amy had told Trish about the situation, but she was grateful for it.  
"Well, anyway, let's go back to the hotel now," Amy suggested since all of the excitement was finally over. "And to go back to my previous question – what time is your flight leaving in the morning?"  
"At 10:45," Jeff answered her. "We've got a direct flight back to North Carolina, and then Dad is picking us up at the airport to take us back to my house."  
  
"I get to see Uncle Gil? Yay!" Jean cheered happily when she found out that she got to see her favorite uncle.  
"Yes, yes you do," Jeff said indulgently, patting her on the head. "That's a good little girl," he teased.  
"Oh bite me Jeffrey Hardy," Jean said as she moved away from him and rolled her eyes. "Can we go now?"  
Amy laughed at the two. "Yeah, Matt's already got everything loaded up so we just need to catch up with him in the parking lot and head back to the hotel. Hey Trish, were you going to ride with us?" she asked, turning to the blonde.  
"Nah. Thanks for the offer, but I'm catching a ride with Lisa. We've got a date with Ben & Jerry's ice cream and the new Matt Damon movie," Trish said with a grin.  
"Sounds like a good plan to me," Amy said with a smile. "Anyway, I'll see you later then!" she said as she herded Jean and Jeff out to the parking lot, rolling her eyes as the two continued to fight like children.  
"You are so immature Jeff! I swear, I don't understand how you can be that much older than me, and still act like you're...oof!" Jean was interrupted as she turned the corner and ran into someone and landed on her butt on the floor yet again. "This is so not happening," she complained before she even looked up from her position on the ground. "Wasn't once enough for one day?"  
A familiar voice above her laughed and said, "I guess not. Maybe we're just destined to run into each other."  
Jean looked up quickly into the familiar face of the hot guy..err, Rene. She had to keep reminding herself that he had a name now. "Maybe," she flirted back, shyly. She didn't think that she had a chance in hell with this guy, considering that he was so hot and obviously famous since he was in the WWE. He was probably a lot older than her anyways, she thought unhappily.  
Rene smiled down at her disgruntled face and held out a hand to pick her up off the floor. "C'mon little one," he said as he pulled her up. "We really don't need to make a habit of this," he teased.  
"Hey, it's not like it's my favorite way to meet people," Jean said, putting her hands on her hips. "Not to mention, I think running into a brick wall would only be slightly more painful than running into you!"  
Rene laughed. He really liked how she always had a comeback for everything that he said. It didn't happen very often that he found someone with an attitude that could go toe-to-toe with his. "I suppose I should take it as a compliment that I'm better than a brick wall."  
  
"You should," Jean said and tossed her hair. "Anyway, I gotta go because we're going back to the hotel and I have a flight to catch in the morning."  
  
"What?!" The question escaped Rene's mouth before he even realized what he'd said. "Uhh, I mean...why do you have a flight to catch? Vince signed you to the WWE."  
Jean laughed. "Yeah, but I have to move all of my stuff into Jeff's house before I can officially join the roster."  
  
"Oh....I see," Rene said slowly. *She's going out with Jeff Hardy...that really sucks. The first decent girl to join this company ever since I've been here...and she's already taken before she even starts. This really, really sucks big time. Why do I always get screwed over when it comes to girls? Hell, when it comes to life lately. It seems that every time that I get my hopes up, it turns around and slaps me upside the head and says nope, not gonna happen buddy!*  
Amy tried to hold back a laugh at the depressed look on Rene's face as she realized the conclusion that he had obviously come to, and she decided to put the boy out of his misery since she realized that he really wasn't the ass that he came off as most of the time. "Rene," she said, catching his attention, "this is Jean Hardy, Jeff's cousin. Jean, this is Rene Dupree."  
"Oooh," Rene said gratefully, happy now that his misconception had been corrected. *Yes! Maybe I do still have a chance!* he cheered inwardly. "It's nice to meet you," he said jokingly to Jean. "After running into you all these times, it's nice to finally be introduced."  
  
"Likewise." Jean laughed at Rene's sarcasm. "So I'm a little clumsy," she said and shrugged innocently.  
"A little?" Jeff interjected, looking at his cousin.  
"Hey! Nobody asked your opinion!" Jean protested, giving her cousin a dirty look.  
"And since when has that ever stopped me?" Jeff asked.  
"Good point," Jean agreed. "Since you never know when to shut up!" she said, and then took off running for the parking lot. "Nice running into you Rene!" she called out as she tried to escape her cousin.  
Amy laughed as Jean made it out the door just out of Jeff's reach, and ran straight for the SUV and Matt's protection. "They're both such children," she chuckled to herself.  
Rene smiled gratefully at her. "Thank you for the introduction," he said politely.  
"You're very welcome," Amy said with a smile. "But anyway, I better go catch up with them before they kill each other. Have a good night Rene!" she called over her shoulder as she jogged off to catch up with everyone else.  
"You too," Rene said as he began to walk off slowly in the opposite direction. *So this is what acceptance feels like,* he thought to himself as he made his way back to his dressing room. *I'm not used to the other wrestlers being nice to me...they usually treat me the same off-camera as they do on-camera...*  
  
A/N 2: Please read & review and let me know what you think of this chapter! Do you like the way that I'm taking Rene's character or do you think that I should make him more of an asshole? 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: ~2 weeks later~  
"JEAN!" Jeff yelled up at her from the kitchen. "Get your behind down here!"  
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" she called back. "I'm almost done packing, I swear!"  
  
"God, you're turning into Matt!" he yelled back.  
"HEY!" Jean screamed, affronted at the insult. "THAT WAS WAY HARSH!"  
"Harsh but true!"  
"Oh, you're so going down!" she cried as she ran down the stairs to tackle her cousin. Her bruises had almost completely healed, and she was thrilled because she'd been able to get in a little bit of gymnastics practice over the past week. She was sad because she'd had to call her coach and tell him that she was retiring from the competitive circuit, and it had hurt even more when he'd mocked her for her new career choice after she'd told him that she was joining the WWE. The man had been a father figure to her for ten years, and then to have him turn on her like that was almost like having her mother turn on her again. Jean shook her head and tried to wipe the depressing thoughts from her mind, reminding herself that she was going back to join the WWE today, and she'd get to see everyone for the first time in two weeks. The fact that she couldn't decide if she was happier about getting to see Amy and Matt or Rene had nothing to do with it....right?  
"Ha!" Jeff laughed at her as he rolled over and pinned her after she'd tackled him. "You should know better than to pick on someone bigger than you short stuff!"  
  
"Oh, that's what you think Skittles!" Jean said, laughing evilly as she started tickling him.  
"Ah! Hey...quit...that!!" Jeff gasped out, as he tried to get away from his cousin's tickling fingers.  
"But why?" Jean asked with a grin. "You always torture me like this!"  
"But that's different!" Jeff tried to rationalize it.  
"Nope! I disagree!" Jean said, continuing to tickle him, even after he rolled off of her and tried to get away. "Say uncle!" she commanded as she continued to tickle him.  
"Never!" Jeff said, struggling to get away. "Grr," he complained as she followed him as he tried to get out of her way. "Okay...fine...uncle!" he gasped out finally after another five minutes of being unable to escape.  
"HA! I win!" Jean gloated as she sat down next to her cousin's sprawled body. "Anyway, I'll be ready in a few minutes. I just have to find my diary, and then I'll be good."  
"Oooh, a diary," Jeff got an evil look in his eyes.  
"Touch and die," Jean warned him, noticing the look.  
"Okay, fine," Jeff pouted, sticking out his lower lip.  
"Oh quit," Jean said rolling her eyes. "That doesn't work on me hon...I'm not a ring rat!"  
"That was cold," Jeff winced.  
"I know," Jean smiled widely as she bounced up the stairs back to her room. She quickly packed the rest of her things that were lying around the room and ran back downstairs. "Let's go!" she said happily to Jeff who was sitting on the couch.  
"Alrighty then," Jeff said, doing his Jim Carrey impersonation.  
"Oh God, please stop," Jean complained. "Don't make me deal with that!"  
"Fine. I can tell when I'm not appreciated," Jeff sniffed and pouted.  
"Aww, I love ya cuz," Jean said, hugging him. "I just don't love your impersonations."  
Jeff laughed. "Fine, fine. Now get your butt in the car so we can head out of here!"  
"I'm going!" Jean complained as she put her bags in the trunk and got into the passenger seat and put her seatbelt on. "Let's go then!"  
Jeff rolled his eyes as he shut the trunk and got into the car. "So what CD do you want to listen to?" he asked as he reversed out of the driveway.  
"This one," Jean said, putting in Trapt's self-titled CD and turning it up so that Headstrong blared out of the speakers. "I think I want this to be my theme song. What do you think?"  
"I think it suits you," Jeff said, smiling at her. "It definitely should work with your character too."  
Jean smiled widely as she settled back into the seat as the song blared out of the speakers.  
  
Trapt – Headstrong: Circling your (2x) Circling your head, contemplating everything you ever said Now I see the truth, I got a doubt A different motive in your eyes and now I'm out, see you later  
  
Bridge: I see your fantasy, you wanna make it a reality paved in gold See inside, inside of our heads, yeah, well now that's over I see your motives inside, decisions to hide  
  
CHORUS: Back off I'll take you on Headstrong to take on anyone I know that you are wrong Headstrong, we're headstrong Back off I'll take you on Headstrong to take on anyone I know that you are wrong If this is not where you belong  
  
I can't give everything away, I won't give everything away  
  
Conclusions manifest, your first impressions got to be your very best I see your full of shit and that's alright That's how you play, I guess you get through every night Well now that's over  
  
Bridge  
  
CHORUS  
  
I can't give everything away(this is not where you belong) I won't give everything away  
  
I know, I know all about (3x) I know, I know all about your motives inside, and your decision to hide  
  
CHORUS  
  
I can't give everything away I won't give everything away(this is not where you belong)  
  
Jean stretched in her seat as their plane finally landed in Houston, where tonight's Raw would be taped. She'd be making her debut tonight as a manager, and she still didn't know who she was going to be paired with. She'd done a little bit of research on both Evolution and La Resistance, and she could honestly say that she'd be happy with either group, assuming that Vince kept to his word that he would place her with one of them. Deep down, she hoped it would be La Resistance, because then she would have an excuse to be with Rene, whom she had a large crush on that she had finally admitted to Jeff earlier that week.  
  
~Flashback~  
"Jeff, I have something to tell you," Jean said shyly as she faced her cousin over the dinner table.  
"What's up short stuff?" Jeff asked, after he swallowed the piece of steak he'd been chewing.  
"I...uhh...well, I like Rene Dupree," she admitted shyly.  
"Oh hell, I already knew that," Jeff said, rolling his eyes. "All I had to do was look at the history on my computer. Ever since you ran into him at the arena you've been all smiley whenever his name was mentioned or you saw a picture of him."  
"Oh," Jean said, startled. "I didn't realize that I was that obvious," she blushed.  
"Only to someone who knows you really well sweetie," Jeff said, reaching over to give her a hug. "If you want to date him, I have no problem with it. But if he screws up and hurts you...well, let's just say that Matt and I, along with Amy, will probably kill him."  
"Okay then," Jean said, smiling at her cousin. "The threat of violence hopefully won't be necessary, but if it is – I'd still rather deal with it in my own way than have the three of you come after him. Besides, I don't even know if he's interested in me at all."  
Jeff shook his head at his cousin. "Sweetie, you didn't see the way he was looking at you at the arena. He's definitely interested, and that's not just coming from me...Trish and Amy both think he likes you. Amy said that he's asked about you a few times."  
"Really?" Jean smiled widely. "Yay!" she cheered happily.  
Jeff rolled his eyes. "Just be warned that if you do go out with him, and you turn into another Matt and Amy....I will not be held responsible for my actions."  
Jean laughed. "Oh lord, I really hope I don't become that bad. If I do, let me know so that I can stop myself while there's still a chance."  
"Oh that won't be a problem," Jeff promised. ~End Flashback~  
  
Jean smiled as she poked Jeff in the side to wake him up. "Hey cuz, we're here," she said as he finally started to move.  
"Huh? What?" Jeff muttered as he stretched.  
"We're here," Jean told him again. "They're supposed to meet us at the gate right?"  
"Yeah," he said as his mind finally cleared enough to realize what was going on. "Amy and Matt are both supposed to meet us there, unless things have changed since the last time I talked to them six hours ago," he said, rolling his eyes at her.  
"Oh you hush," Jean said, sticking her tongue out at him. "Can you blame me for wanting to make sure that all the details were fixed?"  
"No," he said, "I can understand why you do that. But anyway, let's get out of here." He stood up as the passengers slowly began to file off the plane, and his eyes narrowed suspiciously at the group of three people standing at the gate. He turned back to Jean and raised an eyebrow. "So what was that you were saying about how you weren't sure if he liked you or not?"  
Jean's eyes widened as she recognized Rene standing with Amy and Matt and she smiled happily. *Oh my gosh, I can't believe he came with them! That's so awesome! I really like him, and I guess he's interested too...I mean, why else would he show up here just to welcome me back from the airport? I really hope that Vince puts me with La Resistance because then I'd have an excuse to spend a lot of time with him!*  
Jeff laughed at his cousin's expression as she saw Rene. "You're hopeless sweetie," he said as they walked towards the group.  
"Am not," Jean complained.  
"Are too!"  
"Am not! Am not!"  
"Are too! Are too!"  
"Am not! Am not! Am not!"  
"Are too! Are too! Are too!"  
"CHILDREN!" Amy yelled at the two of them, abruptly stopping the argument and causing Jeff and Jean to look at her wide-eyed. "Thank you," she said happily.  
Matt laughed at the two. "Y'all are such children when you get together."  
"I know," Jean said, laughing. "What's up cuz?" she said as she hugged Matt and then Amy. "Hi," she said shyly, looking up at Rene.  
"Hey," he said, smiling down at her.  
"What? Rene doesn't get a hug? Sheesh Jean, way to leave him out," Amy teased her.  
Jean stuck her tongue out at her. *Thanks Amy. Thanks a lot. Now he's going to know that I like him, if he didn't already.* She put her arms around Rene and hugged him quickly, and was surprised when he hugged her back.  
*Thank you Amy.* Rene thought gratefully. He'd been jealous when Matt and Amy had gotten hugs from her, but he hadn't wanted to make the move to hug her in case she hadn't been interested. He was very grateful to Amy for taking the time to listen to him and to advise him on what to do with Jean. *I don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for Amy right now. Sylvan was about ready to shoot me after the first day I met her because he was so sick of hearing about her. It was really nice to be able to talk to someone other than Sylvan and Rob, because it seems like all of the other wrestlers automatically assume that we're just like our characters, and they never want to talk to us. Being accepted is something that's never really happened to me before in the WWE but then again I guess it's my own fault too partially because I never made the effort to talk to anyone before. I was so nervous at first that I just kept to myself because I didn't know what to say, and I guess it just came off to everyone that I was a jerk just like my character. I'm so glad that Jean ran into me two weeks ago, because my life definitely took a turn for the better that day.* He picked Jean up and swung her around in a circle happily before he realized what he was doing, and abruptly put her down, his cheeks flushing a bright red. "Sorry," he apologized quickly.  
"No, it's okay," Jean assured him, giving him a quick hug, and smiling when after the hug he didn't take one of his arms away from her and left it around her shoulders.  
Jeff gave Amy a look that practically demanded to know what was going on and why Rene was with them.  
"Alright well, can we get out of this airport before we get attacked?" Matt asked nervously, looking around. He and Jeff had gotten mobbed by fans in an airport once, and he was paranoid about having it happen again. Two wrestlers was bad enough when it came to attracting attention, but four made it damn near impossible to pass unnoticed, especially when they were accompanied by an unknown female.  
"Yeah, sure," Jeff said as he walked towards the baggage claim area. "Our bags should be unloaded any minute now," he said as luggage started winding it's way around the carousel. He quickly grabbed his luggage and Jean's, smiling inwardly when Rene took her bags instead of letting her carry them. *Oh boy. He's gonna get it now!* Jeff thought gleefully.  
Jean looked at Rene when he took her bags. "Excuse me?" she said, putting her hands on her hips.  
"What?" Rene asked nervously, not knowing what he'd done wrong. He quickly took his arm away from her shoulders. *Oh God. What'd I do already? SHIT!*  
"My bag please," Jean said, holding her hand out. *Dammit. He didn't have to move his arm.*  
"I'll carry it for you," Rene said, refusing to give up the bag.  
"It's mine. I'll carry it," Jean protested.  
"Jean," Amy said, getting her attention.  
"What?" Jean asked without taking her eyes off of Rene.  
"Quit being a brat, and let Rene carry your bags so we can get out of here. If I was you, I'd appreciate the fact that he was being a gentleman and carrying them for you," Amy said, making a backhanded insult to Matt.  
"Ouch," Matt winced, accepting the comment as his due. "Sorry sweetie," he apologized as he looked down at the ground.  
"Okay, fine," Jean pouted. "Thank you for carrying the bags," she said to Rene as they reached the car. "Even though I could have done it myself," she said, and then winked at him as she climbed into the backseat.  
Rene smiled happily as he put her bags in the trunk. Her attitude was adorable, and he loved how she refused to take any shit from him. "Yes dear," he joked as he climbed in the back seat next to her, then laughed when she rolled her eyes at him. "Can I talk to you later?" he asked quietly while Amy, Matt, and Jeff made their way out to the car at a considerably slower pace than the two youngest ones.  
"Yeah, sure," Jean said, smiling at him. "As far as I know I'll be at the arena all night after we check into the hotel so I'll have plenty of time to get myself lost and run into you again."  
"I can hardly wait," Rene teased her with a wink, and then fell silent as the other three got into the car and began discussing dinner plans with Jean. He had already made plans to eat with Sylvan, so this conversation really didn't concern him too much so he could concentrate on what he wanted to say to Jean later. 


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:  
"So what should I say?" Rene asked nervously as he paced back in forth in the locker room he shared with Sylvan.  
Sylvan rolled his eyes. "Dude, just tell her that you'd like to get to know her better and you want to take her out somewhere after the show."  
"Oh, okay," Rene said, calming down for a minute. "But where can I take her? I'm not 21! Shit, I don't even know how old she is! She might even be older than me! What if she wants to go to a bar and I can't take her? She might not want to date me if she's older than me!" Rene babbled frantically, terrified that he might not have a shot with Jean. He really liked her and he wanted desperately to go out with her.  
"SHUT UP!" Sylvan yelled, causing Rene to stand there and stare nervously at him. "Oh my God Rene, do you know how much of an idiot you sound like right now?!"  
*Knock Knock*  
Rene paled as he looked at the door and then looked at Sylvan, his throat working as he tried to talk but the words wouldn't come out.  
Sylvan rolled his eyes. "Come in!" he called, secretly amused by Rene's tongue-tied state.  
"Hi," Jean said nervously as she walked into the room.  
"Hey," Sylvan said, smiling at her. He glanced at Rene. "Well, I'm going to go ahead and go grab something to eat now so I'll leave you two to have your talk."  
"What? Hey!" Rene protested as he realized that Sylvan was leaving him alone and he was going to have to sink or swim.  
"I'll be back in an hour or two Rene," Sylvan said, shooting him a look. "Bye Jean," he said turning to her and smiling.  
"Bye," she said cheerfully. She had been standing outside their door for a few minutes before she'd knocked because she was having trouble getting up the guts to knock. She was really nervous about the crush that she had on Rene, and she had been scared that it wasn't going to go anywhere...but after listening to his freak out, she didn't think that would be a problem anymore. She thought about letting him know that she'd been out there, but decided against it. She didn't want him to be embarrassed about it. "So what did you want to talk to me about?" she asked, and tilted her head to look up at him.  
"I...uh...I..." Rene stuttered at he looked down at Jean's smiling face. He flushed a bright red and started pacing the room. He ran his fingers through his hair nervously as he tried to figure out the best way to say it. "Umm, well I just....uh..." he stopped again.  
*Aw, this is so adorable!* Jean thought to herself. *He is so freaking cute, and he's so nervous. I guess I should probably help him out here, even though watching him psyche himself out is rather entertaining too.* She watched him pace back and forth for another minute, and then walked up to him and put her hand on his arm, causing him to stop abruptly. "Hey," she said softly.  
"Yes?" he said nervously, biting his lower lip.  
"Come sit down," she said as she walked over to the bench in front of the lockers and sat down with her legs curled underneath her. "Sit," she said again as he looked at her nervously.  
"I don't know if sitting is the best idea for me right now. Pacing is helping me clear my thoughts," he said nervously. "Oh shit. I just said that out loud didn't I?" he said, flushing a bright red. *Oh my God! I'm such a moron! I can't BELIEVE I just said that! She has to think that I'm such a DORK! I bet she'll never want to date me now!*  
"Rene. Rene! RENE!" Jean finally yelled to get his attention since he was lost in his thoughts and was too occupied with biting his lip and running his fingers through his hair while pacing to pay attention to her. *Dear lord, screw this. I'm just going to put the boy out of his misery, because otherwise it'll take him all night to say it.*  
"What?" he asked nervously, turning to her.  
"I know what you want to say to me," she said.  
"What? How?" Rene was totally confused.  
"I, um, well I stood outside the door for a few minutes before I knocked and I heard you talking to Sylvan," Jean admitted, looking down at the floor in embarrassment.  
Rene flushed an even darker red. *Oh lord. I've never been more embarrassed in my life. She really has to think that I'm the biggest ass on the planet. Seriously, why would she want to date someone that's as stupid as me?* "Oh..." he said quietly.  
Jean got up again as Rene continued to pace. "Come here," she said, grabbing his hand and leading him over to the bench. "Sit," she ordered him and when he didn't obey immediately she poked him in the side. "I said sit dammit," she said, sticking her tongue out at him.  
Rene sat and looked up at her nervously. *Man, I have a feeling that I'm not going to like this. Why do I always have such a hard time with girls? It's like I can't have a decent relationship without screwing it up somehow!*  
"Okay, I'm just going to go ahead and say this now, so you might want to pay attention," Jean said and winked at him. "Yes, I think you're cute, and I would like to spend time with you so that I can get to know you better. And just so you know – I'm only 18, so you have nothing to worry about."  
"YES!" Rene jumped up and pumped his fist in the air. "Oh, wait," he flushed as he realized what he'd just done.  
Jean cracked up laughing at the look on his face. It was the most adorable thing that she'd seen in a long time. "It's ok sweetie," she assured him.  
"Oh, good," he said happily. He picked her up and swung her around in a circle, hugging her tightly.  
"Okay...can't...breathe..." Jean said, gasping for air.  
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Rene said nervously, quickly putting her down.  
"Dude, it's okay," Jean said, laughing. She climbed up on the bench so that she would be close to eye level with him. *God I hate being short.* she thought unhappily to herself. She leaned in and kissed Rene on the cheek. "You're fine. Just don't worry about it," she told him. "But anyway, I gotta run because I need to go meet with Vince so that we can discuss my storyline."  
"Okay," Rene said dreamily, still floating from the fact that she'd just kissed his cheek.  
"Okay, I'll catch you either backstage at some point in time, or if not, come meet me at Matt and Jeff's dressing room after the show and we can go do something then," Jean said, leaning in to kiss his cheek one more time before jumping off the table and heading out the door. "See you later hun!" she called over her shoulder.  
"Bye," Rene called after her. He watched her leave, then made his way over to the chair and collapsed into it with a huge grin on his face. *I can't believe that just happened. I have got to be the luckiest man on the planet right now. She's so adorable, and I have no idea how I was lucky enough to end up with her. The day that I met her was the day that everything changed for me – not only is she quite possibly the sweetest girl that I've ever met, but I've also finally started to be accepted by some of the other wrestlers. Amy is one of the nicest girls around...I mean seriously, she didn't have to help me figure out my feelings for Jean or invite me to go with them to pick her up at the airport. And although I don't really know Matt or Jeff all that well, they seem pretty cool. I really like the way that things are changing around here, and hopefully they'll continue to stay this way....* Rene was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice when Sylvan came back in the room.  
"Hey. HEY!" Sylvan yelled to get Rene's attention. "Jeez lover boy, I'd ask how it went, but judging from the sappy, lovesick grin on your face...I'm going to assume it went well."  
"Yeah," Rene sighed happily. "We're going out after the show."  
"Awesome," Sylvan said, happy for his younger friend. "Now pull your head out of your ass because we have a match!"  
"I'll try," Rene said, trying to wipe the smile off his face as he followed his tag team partner out of their locker room.  
  
A/N: Yes, I know that was kinda short, but I want to put all of Jean's debut in the next chapter because I have a feeling it's going to be kinda long. So what did everyone think of the chapter? PLEASE review! It makes me happy to know that people like my story! :) 


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: *Knock Knock*  
Jean knocked nervously on Mr. McMahon's door, and then opened it after the command to enter. "Hi," she said nervously.  
"Hi Jean," Vince said, smiling at her as he looked up from his paperwork. "How are you doing?"  
"I'm fine. I feel a lot better now than I did a few weeks ago," she replied honestly.  
"That's good! I'm glad that you waited until you felt a hundred percent to debut on the show. Did you sign your contract?"  
"Yes," she said, handing it to him. "Did you decide who you're going to put me with?"  
"Yes," he told her, sorting through the papers on his desk. "I'm putting you with Evolution, and you're going to begin an on-screen relationship with Randy Orton eventually."  
"Oh," Jean said quietly. *Dammit. So much for getting to work with Rene* she thought sadly.  
Vince looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a problem with Evolution?"  
"Oh, no of course not!" Jean assured him. "I was just kind of hoping to be placed with La Resistance."  
"Ah," Vince said. "Well, I'm not saying that you're going to be put with Evolution indefinitely. Their storyline is just rather boring right now, so we're trying to spice it up a little, and we thought that putting you there would be the best move right now. Your role for tonight is in the script," he told her as he handed it to her. "Go ahead and go back to Jeff and Matt's dressing room to memorize it, and a stagehand will come knock on the door and inform you when it's time for you to go to the gorilla."  
"The gorilla?" Jean asked, completely confused.  
Vince laughed. "I keep forgetting that you don't know all the terms. Going to the gorilla is when you need to show up at the curtains to make your appearance on the ramp or in the ring."  
"Oh, okay," Jean nodded. "Bye," she said as she walked out of the door, reading the script. *Oh yay. I get to interfere in the match tonight between Jeff and Randy. I'm sure that's going to go over well...* She quietly made her way back to the Hardy Boyz locker room and sat down on the couch, still reading the script.  
"Hey sweetie," Amy said as she walked in, closely followed by Matt and Jeff. "Oh, is that the script for tonight?" she asked as she noticed what Jean was reading.  
"Yeah," she said. "I get to interfere in Jeff's match tonight against Randy. You're walking down with him, and then about ten minutes into the match, he's going to be climbing up the turnbuckle to do a Swanton bomb on Randy and I'm going to run down the ramp and give you a big hug, and then Jeff's going to be distracted and Randy will pull him off the turnbuckle. They'll keep fighting for another five minutes or so, and then Randy's supposed to Irish Whip him into the ropes, and I'm supposed to hold him there for Randy to dropkick him over the ropes. After that, you're supposed to come after me, and Randy's going to pull me into the ring, and keep me behind him and RKO you and you stay down, and then he throws Jeff back into the ring and pins him for the win. Then I'm supposed to walk up the ramp with him, and they'll hand him a mike at the top of the ramp, and he'll announce me as Evolution's newest member."  
Amy nodded slowly. "Wonderful. So they'll be setting up a feud between us and Evolution."  
"Yup," Jean said. "It should be interesting."  
Jeff shrugged. "I can handle Randy Orton, but so help me God if he lays so much as a finger on Jean...shit's going to hit the fan!"  
"He'll have no clue what hit him," Matt agreed.  
"Oh my God you guys," Amy said, rolling her eyes. "It's an on-screen relationship, not a real one. And you know as well as I do that Randy won't hit her unless it's in the script, and even then he'll be as careful as he can be with it."  
"Thank you!" Jean exclaimed gratefully. "I'm a big girl you guys, and I think I can handle an on-screen relationship. Besides, I'd think you'd be more interested in knowing how my conversation with Rene went."  
"Spill!" Amy said, staring her down.  
Jean laughed at the redhead's enthusiasm. "I have a date with him tonight after the show. We're going to go out and get something to eat."  
"Awesome!" Amy cheered. "I'm happy for you sweetie because he really, really likes you! He kept asking about you the whole time that you were in Cameron with Jeff. It was utterly adorable. He's actually a sweet guy when you get him alone."  
"Oh trust me, I know this," Jean agreed. "He helped me out a lot that day when he brought me to Vince's office. I never would have found it on my own." Her eyes softened and she smiled as she remembered that day.  
"Ookay, don't do that on me," Jeff complained. "I have to put up with enough lovey-dovey crap from Amy & Matt. I refuse to put up with it from you!" He abruptly tackled her to the floor and started tickling her.  
"HEY!" Jean exclaimed, shocked when she was suddenly bounced to the floor underneath her cousin. "That's...so...uncool!" she gasped out.  
"Haha," Jeff laughed evilly as he and Jean rolled around on the floor of the locker room as she tried to get away from him.  
*Knock Knock*  
"Hey, one of you get that!" Jeff called over his shoulder to Matt and Amy. When there was no response he glanced over his shoulder to find the two of them making out on the couch. "Dammit," Jeff whined as he let go of Jean to go answer the door.  
"Hi," the other person said quietly. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"  
"I...uhh...well, um," Jeff stuttered. "I have a match in like fifteen minutes so I can't really talk right now."  
"Oh, okay," the female voice said and the sadness was apparent in her voice. "Well, what about later?"  
"I don't know," Jeff said honestly. "I'm not sure if I could handle it."  
"Oh," she said unhappily. "Well, if you change your mind you know where to find me."  
"Yeah," Jeff said and closed the door as the woman left.  
"Who is it?" Jean asked curiously since Jeff hadn't opened the door wide enough for them to see who it was.  
"Don't worry about it," Jeff said quietly as he moved over to sit in the chair to the left of the couch.  
Jean raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't try to pull that shit on me Jeffrey Nero Hardy. Don't forget who you're talking to here."  
"It's none of your business!" he snapped at her.  
"Jeff!" Amy exclaimed, shocked at his sudden display of anger. *Jeff was supposed to be the cool, calm, and collected one of the group. Who the hell was that and what did she do to him?* Amy thought angrily. *When I get my hands on her, whoever she is...*  
"Shit, I'm sorry Jean," Jeff apologized as he realized what he'd done. "I...it's just a really long story that I don't feel like getting into right now. I'm not really over the situation and I don't want to talk about it yet."  
"That's fine hun," Jean said, leaning down to hug him. "I forgive you sweetie. Just remember that if you feel like talking about it, I'm always here to listen to you."  
"I know," Jeff said, hugging her back.  
*Knock Knock*  
Everyone turned to stare at the door, and then Amy got up and quickly went towards it before anyone else could. "What do you want?" she asked impatiently without looking to see who it was.  
"Um, hi," a male voice said. "I actually wanted to be introduced to Jean before the match."  
"Oh, sorry Randy," Amy quickly apologized. "I thought you were someone else."  
"Okay good," he said gratefully. "You scared me for a minute because I didn't know what I'd done to piss you off."  
"Oh no, definitely not," Amy reassured him. "Come on in," she said, moving out of the way. "Randy, this is Jean Hardy, and Jean this is Randy Orton."  
"Hi," Jean said happily, smiling up at him.  
"Hey," Randy said, smiling at her. *Holy shit. She is SO not what I expected. She's freaking cute as hell! I wonder how old she is and if she's got a boyfriend...* "Welcome to the WWE," he joked. "So did you read the script?"  
"Yup, Vince gave it to me about twenty minutes ago," she replied.  
"So do you think that you can deal with all of it?" he asked.  
"As long as you can bend down when I have to kiss you we'll be good," she joked. "I'd have to go steal the ladder otherwise because there's no way in hell I'd be able to do it just standing."  
  
Everyone cracked up laughing at that remark.  
"I think I can do that to help you out," Randy said and winked at her.  
"We'll be just fine then," Jean said happily.  
"Alright then," Randy said finally, glancing at his watch. "I'm gonna go get ready for the match now, and I'll see you down there!"  
"Okie doke," she said cheerfully and waved goodbye as Randy exited the locker room. Jean quickly went through her bag and grabbed the outfit that she'd brought to wear to the ring and made her way into the bathroom to change quickly.  
"Okay, and what makes you think that I'm going to let you leave this room in that?" Jeff asked in his father voice, putting his hands on his hips.  
"Because you don't have a choice since you have to leave now," Jean grinned.  
"Oh you so suck," Jeff said as the stagehand knocked on the door to let them know that they had five minutes to get to the gorilla.  
"I know."  
"Could you at least put on a different..."  
"No!"  
"But..."  
"I said no!"  
"Damn it."  
"Exactly. Now go!"  
"Fine then. Be that way!"  
"I will!"  
"Jeff, just give it up!" Amy said, rolling her eyes. "Let's go!"  
"Okay, okay, fine!" Jeff pouted all the way out the door. He turned around before closing it and said, "This isn't over!"  
"Yes, it is," Jean assured him, tossing her hair and sticking her tongue out at him.  
"That's what you think," Matt said as Jeff closed the door and walked out.  
Jean looked at him steadily. "You do not have a chance in hell of changing my mind about this Matthew. This is what I'm wearing. Period."  
"Okay," Matt said, conceding defeat. "But only because I love you little one."  
"I know," Jean said happily with a big smile. She settled down into a chair & turned the TV on to watch the show. 


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: This is the first time I've ever tried to write a match, so I apologize if it comes off really bad. Thank you everyone for all the reviews, and I'm glad that you like my stories! I'll keep writing as long as you keep reviewing, deal?  
  
Chapter 14:  
By the time she found the channel it was on, Randy had already made his way to the ring accompanied by massive boos from the crowd, and Jeff was getting ready to make his way to the ring.  
"And from Cameron, North Carolina, weighing in at 218 lbs and being accompanied by Lita, JEFF HARDY!" Lillian Garcia announced as Jeff and Amy ran down the ramp head-banging to Jeff's entrance music.  
Jeff slid into the ring and climbed up on the turnbuckle to toss his currently purple and blue hair up and down to the music, then climbed down and turned to face Randy as Lita slid out of the ring to stand by the ringpost. He nodded at the referee to show that he was ready, and he and Randy moved towards each other in the center of the ring.  
Jeff quickly took the offensive with a quick dropkick that knocked Randy to his knees, but Randy quickly jumped up and tried to back body drop Jeff onto the ropes, but Jeff countered by flipping Randy over the ropes. Jeff looked at Randy's prone body, then up at the crowd and raised his hands and they responded with a huge yell, and Jeff did a suicide dive off the apron on top of Randy. They both laid there long enough for the referee to get a five count, then Jeff got up and threw Randy back into the ring. Once there, Jeff did a back suplex and pinned Randy for a 2 count, but Randy just managed to kick out in time.  
Jean slid to the edge of her chair, watching her cousin do what he loved more than anything in the world. She was so absorbed in the match, that she had forgotten when she was supposed to go to the gorilla, until she was reminded by a stagehand who knocked on the door to tell her that she had two minutes. "Okay," she told him as she quickly got up to look at herself in the mirror and make sure she still looked okay.  
"Sweetie, you look fine," Matt said. "Now just go on out there and kick some ass!"  
"You got it cuz," Jean said with a big smile as she left the locker room and headed for the gorilla. She yelped in surprise as she was picked up from behind and swung around in a circle on her way there. "What the hell?!" she exclaimed.  
"I just wanted to wish you good luck," Rene said as he put her down and she turned to face him. "I'm sure you'll do great," he said, hugging her.  
"Aw, thanks sweetie," Jean said, hugging him back. "But yeah, I gotta run!"  
"Alright, do you want to meet me at my locker room or do you want me to come to Matt & Jeff's?" Rene asked before she disappeared.  
"I'll meet you at yours," Jean said as she ran off.  
"Cool," Rene said to himself, smiling happily. He had a date with the prettiest girl in the company tonight and he was on top of the world. He made his way back to his locker room in a daze, and remained there until Sylvan reminded them that they had a match right after Jeff and Randy's.  
Jean stood at the top of the ramp and looked down at the action in the ring. Randy had just backed Jeff into the corner and had knocked him to the floor and was choking him with his boot. He let up when the referee counted to 4, then picked Jeff up and suplexed him, then covered for a 2- count after Jeff managed to get his shoulder up. Jeff made his way to his feet only to be met with an elbow shot in the stomach by Randy, and he fell back to the ground. Randy tried to pick him up again but Jeff threw his hands off as he made his way back up and performed a Twist of Fate to knock Randy down. Jeff shot a glance towards the ramp, and Jean knew that this was her cue. Her music started blaring over the loudspeakers, distracting the crowd and Jeff from the match going on and Jeff just stood on the ropes on his way up to turn and look at his cousin running down the ramp.  
"What the hell? Who is she?" J.R. exclaimed as he saw the unknown female running down the ramp.  
"Well, whoever she is, obviously Jeff and Lita know her!" Jerry Lawler said as the girl greeted Lita with a huge hug and started talking with her before turning their attention back to the match when they heard a thud after Randy pulled Jeff off the ropes. Randy rolled him up for a 2- count when Jeff managed to kick out and applied a sleeper hold to Randy, but Randy countered with one of his own but Jeff managed to slide out of it. He powerbombed Randy and tried to pin but Randy got his shoulder up after a 1-count.  
"Wait, what is she doing?" J.R. asked as he saw the girl walk around to the opposite side of the ring as Lita. "It looks like she's about to interfere in this match! She has no business here!"  
Randy performed a neckbreaker on Jeff, then turned and 'accidentally' knocked the referee down, leaving him lying on the canvas. He picked Jeff up and Irish whipped him into the ropes, where Jean grabbed his legs and held Jeff there long enough for Randy to drop-kick him over the ropes.  
"WHAT?!" Jerry Lawler screamed into his mike. "What just happened here?! Who is she and why did she just betray Lita and Jeff like that?! They obviously know who she is, and they obviously trusted her!"  
Jean glanced to her left and saw Lita rushing at her, and she quickly jumped up into the ring and stood by Randy. Lita slid into the ring and started to come after her, but Randy shoved Jean behind him and RKO'd Lita, leaving her facedown on the mat. Jean pointed at Lita's motionless body and laughed as she watched Randy make his way out of the ring and down to Jeff's body. He threw Jeff back into the ring as Jean helped the referee to his feet and slid down out of the ring. Randy quickly pinned Jeff for the 3-count and the win and Evolution's music blared over the speakers. He looked at Jeff and Lita's motionless bodies lying in the ring and laughed as he made his way out of the ring, and to Jean. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they made their way up the ramp, and he stopped when they reached the top and motioned for one of the crew to hand him a microphone.  
"Good!" J.R. exclaimed. "Now maybe we'll find out who she is and what the hell just happened here!"  
"Jeff, Lita!" Randy called to the two in the ring who were just now finally beginning to make their way to their feet. "I'm sure you'd like to know what just happened here, and to make it short and sweet...well Jeff, your sweet and innocent little cousin here is the newest member of Evolution!"  
"WHAT?!" Jerry Lawler screamed, but he was nearly drowned out by the boos coming from the fans in the arena as they watched Jeff and Lita stare in shock at the girl standing next to Randy, who continued his speech.  
"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce to you, Jean Hardy...better known as Princess to all of you," he said with huge smile as Jean waved to the crowd. Randy quickly handed the mike off to the crewman and leaned down to kiss Jean passionately before the two made their way to the back."  
"AHH! That was so much fun!" Jean yelled as soon as they made their way past the curtains. She promptly pounced on Matt who was standing there waiting for all of them to return. She hugged her cousin tightly and he laughed as he swung her around in a circle.  
"That was awesome! You did great little girl!" Matt said, hugging her tightly. "I'm so proud of you!"  
"You did great," Randy said, smiling down at her. "You acted just like a pro out there, and you hit your moves perfectly."  
"Why thank you," Jean smiled happily up at him as she waited for Jeff and Amy to make their way up the ramp, and as soon as they were clear of the fan's view, she threw herself at them in a group hug.  
"You were great little one," Jeff said proudly.  
"That was great Jean!" Amy exclaimed.  
"Thank you, thank you," Jean said, as she pretended to curtsy and accept the adulation. "Y'all should stop before you make my ego bigger than what it already is," she joked.  
"Isn't that the truth," Jeff teased her.  
"Hey!" Jean protested, putting her hands on her hips. "My ego is NOWHERE near as big as YOURS, Jeff Hardy!"  
"She's got you there bro," Matt said, laughing at the look on Jeff's face.  
"Sooo?" Jeff protested. "My ego isn't as big as SOME people's!"  
"Riiight," Amy said, rolling her eyes. "Just keep telling yourself that."  
"Fine then. Y'all are so mean to me!" Jeff pouted.  
"We know," Jean said. "But anyway, I'm going to go take a shower now so that I can get ready for tonight," she said happily.  
"Oooooh, Jean's got a date!" Matt said in a sing-songy voice.  
"Shut up Matt!" Amy said, smacking her boyfriend on the arm. "Leave her alone!"  
"You leave him alone! You've already got the poor boy whipped beyond belief!" Jeff tried to stick up for his brother.  
"Oh, you stay out of this!" Jean said, turning to Jeff.  
The four of them were so involved with the group argument that they didn't even notice when Randy walked off with a sad look on his face when they just left him out of everything. It hadn't helped much when they started teasing Jean about having a date. That had hurt because Randy had been planning on asking her out once they had both gotten cleaned up from the match.  
"Oh, whatever," Jean said finally, rolling her eyes. "I quit. I'm going to go take my shower now, and I'll talk to you later!" She walked off without waiting for a response for anyone and made her way back to the locker room to get ready for her date with Rene. 


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:  
Jean made her way back to the dressing room happily, whistling under her breath so that she could get ready for her date with Rene. "Oh, hi," she said, as she saw an unfamiliar woman standing in front of the dressing room. "Can I help you?"  
"Um, yeah," the woman replied, turning to face her. "I really need to talk to Jeff. Do you know where he is?"  
Jean raised an eyebrow. *Hmm, I bet this is the woman that was outside before! The one that got him in a really bad mood. Who in the hell does she think she is pissing my cousin off like that? She obviously hurt him, so she has no business being around him!* "What do you want with him?" she asked angrily.  
"I...I just need to talk to him," the woman said, backing up a step at the angry look in her eyes.  
"About what?"  
"About....about stuff."  
"What stuff?"  
"I don't really see how it's any of your business," the unknown woman said, snottily as she realized that her point was being ignored. "This is between me and Jeff, and you have nothing to do with it!"  
"Oh, really," Jean said, rolling her eyes. "Well let me make this clear – Jeff is my cousin, and he's closer to me than almost anyone else on this planet, and so help me God...if I find out that you hurt him in any way, shape, or form...your chances of staying unbruised are very slim. And that warning isn't coming only from me, it's also coming from Amy and from Matt. So I would suggest that you watch your step around here."  
The woman looked at Jean in disbelief. She couldn't believe that this little girl was talking to her that way. "Oh, don't worry KID," she emphasized, looking down her nose. "What's between Jeff and I has nothing to do with the rest of you, and I'd thank you to keep your nose out of MY business."  
Jean growled under her breath. *She did NOT just do that.* She took a step closer to the woman and stared at her. "Just watch your back," she said finally, and then opened the door to the locker room.  
"If you see Jeff, tell him that Beth needs to talk to him," the woman said, tossing her hair and walking away confidently.  
"Oh, I'll tell him all right. I'll tell him that an annoying bitch wants to waste his time," Jean said, laughing as she slammed the door in Beth's face as she turned around angrily.  
"Oh, you have no idea what you've just started little girl," Beth said angrily as she stalked away from the Hardy Boys' dressing room. "I'll be back!" she yelled at the door.  
"What a bitch!" Jean complained to herself as she picked up her duffle bag and started to go through it so that she could get ready for her date. She picked out her outfit and made her way to the showers and quickly got herself ready because she knew that even though Rene had a match right after Jeff's, it still wouldn't take him that long to get ready afterwards. Even though she was looking forward to tonight, she was still pissed off about her confrontation with that girl earlier, and when she heard a knock at the door, the first thought that passed through her mind was that it was her again, so she yelled "I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU!" Unfortunately, she didn't look out the door to see who it was, because if she had she would have seen Rene walking away, completely depressed.  
*What did I do?* he thought to himself sadly. *Everything seemed to be going so well before her match, and now....she doesn't even want to talk to me! I have no idea what's going on! Oh my God, this is so awful...I wish I knew what I did to piss her off because then I could go apologize to her...* Rene made his way back to his locker room, completely dejected. He'd stopped by the Hardy Boys' locker room after his triumphant match with Sylvan over the Hurricane and Sgt. Slaughter to let Jean know that his match was over and it would take him about twenty minutes to get ready for their date, only to have his hopes shot down completely beyond belief. He was so confused, and he didn't know what to think. He had no idea what had triggered this change in her mood and all he wanted to do was sit and mope. He stepped into the shower as soon as he made it to his room, and just stood there in the hot spray, wishing that it would be able to remove the painful memories from his head as easily as it removed the sweat from his body. He slowly made his way out of the shower & changed into the outfit he had planned to wear on his date, and collapsed onto the couch, lost in his own thoughts.  
*Knock Knock*  
Rene looked up as he heard a knock at his door, completely confused as to who it could be. "Come in," he called, unwilling to get up from his position on the couch.  
"Hey!" Jean said happily as she bounced into the room. Her smile disappeared as soon as she saw the confused and upset look on Rene's face. "What's wrong?" she asked nervously, stopping in her tracks.  
"What are you doing here?" Rene asked impatiently. He didn't know what kind of game she was playing, but he didn't like it.  
"Well...we had a date tonight didn't we?" Jean said nervously, completely lost when it came to what was going on.  
"That's what I thought too. But then when I came to the locker room, you said that you didn't want to talk to me so I assumed it was off," Rene told her unhappily.  
"But...but..." Jean stuttered. "I wasn't talking to you though! There was this girl named Beth that came to the locker room earlier wanting to talk to Jeff and she and I got into it, and she said that she'd be back. So when I heard the knock on the door I figured it was her, and I didn't feel like getting into another argument because I wanted to get ready so that I could spend time with you," Jean quickly explained. The last thing she wanted was for Rene to be mad at her over this. "I'm so sorry Rene! I didn't mean to yell at you. I should have checked the door before yelling, and I...I don't know what to say really other than I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?" she asked, biting her lip nervously.  
Rene stared at her face for a second. He wasn't always good at reading people's body language, but he thought that she was telling the truth. "Yeah," he said, smiling at her. "It was just a misunderstanding."  
"Oh thank you God," Jean said gratefully. "I was so hoping that you would forgive me. That would really suck if you were mad at me!"  
"Oh, and why is that?" Rene said jokingly.  
"Because I like spending time with you," Jean said honestly. "Granted, I haven't spent all that much time around you, but from what I have spent I enjoy being around you because you go out of your way to make sure that I'm having fun and enjoying myself, not to mention the fact that you've gone out of your way to help me."  
Rene flushed at the compliment he had just received. "Why thank you. I don't really know what else to say to that," he admitted shyly.  
"Well, don't say anything then," Jean told him. "So where did you want to go tonight?" she asked, changing the subject.  
"Uh, well, I really don't know. I was hoping you'd have an idea," Rene told her.  
Jean laughed. "Shit, well that's what I was hoping you'd do. Alright well, we can think of something, can't we?"  
"Well, why don't we go get dinner?" Rene suggested. "I know that I'm hungry, and nothing that they had in catering looked even remotely appealing when I was in there before."  
"That works," Jean agreed. "So where did you want to go?"  
"Well...can we go to Wendys?" Rene asked. "I have this addiction to their spicy chicken sandwiches," he admitted shamefacedly.  
"Um, yeah, sure," Jean said, giggling a little bit at the embarrassed look on Rene's face. "Last one to the parking lot has to drive!" she told him with an evil grin as she made a dash for the door.  
"What?! Oh, you are SO in for it!" Rene yelled after her retreating back as he took off after her. He tried to catch up and pass her, and even though he had longer legs than her he still lost because she was able to take the corners better. "SORRY!" he yelled behind them as they passed Randy Orton in the hallway and he abruptly flattened himself to the wall. Rene slowed down long enough to glance behind him as he yelled his apology and was instantly confused by the sad look on Randy's face. *I wonder what's going on with him...*  
"I win! I win!" Jean gloated happily, dancing around in a circle in the parking lot.  
"Oh you shut up," Rene said, rolling his eyes at her as he watched her happy dance. "C'mon and finish your gloating and let's go eat."  
  
"Yes, sir, captain, sir," Jean said mockingly, saluting him.  
"That's it!" Rene said, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder and walking towards his rental car. "Hey! Quit that!" he said as Jean started poking him in the side as they reached the car. He gently put her down on the trunk of the car so she was sitting and then could jump down.  
"Thanks for the delivery service," Jean joked. "It was rather nice not having to walk, although I personally would have preferred a piggyback ride."  
  
"I'm SO sorry for not taking your preferences into consideration," Rene said and stuck his tongue out at her.  
"Well, you should be!"  
"Oh just be quiet and get in the car!"  
  
"Yes master!"  
"Oh, don't even try me!"  
"I'm SO scared, let me tell you!"  
  
"Get in the damn car already!"  
  
"Okay, okay, I'm going!"  
"Finally," Rene said as he backed out of the parking lot on their way to the nearest Wendy's. 


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16:  
"Hey guys. Guys!" Amy yelled at Matt and Jeff to get their attention. "C'mon, let's go to catering and get something to eat because I'm hungry."  
"Jeez, you're always hungry!" Jeff complained. "Did you turn into a bottomless pit or something?"  
"No Jeff, it's just that after spending so much time with you that my stomach has trained itself to think that it needs to eat six times a day," Amy said, rolling her eyes.  
"I can't help that! I'm a growing boy!" Jeff protested.  
"Yeah, you're growing all right," Amy agreed. "Growing from side to side!"  
  
"That was mean," Jeff pouted.  
"I know," Amy smiled widely. "Now let's go."  
"Okay children," Matt said, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder. "Let's go eat."  
"Yay!" Amy cheered as they walked off. "Hey!" she said, sticking her tongue out at Jeff when he poked her in the side.  
"What?" Jeff said, acting innocent.  
Amy rolled her eyes at him. "Grow up Jeffrey!"  
"I will when you will!" Jeff said in a singsong voice.  
"Well, then why haven't you already? Amy quit growing when she was in like the eighth grade!" Matt teased.  
"Hey!" Amy exclaimed, punching him in the side. "I don't need any short jokes!"  
"Yeah well, it was the perfect opening," Matt said, rubbing his side with his free hand. "That was harsh by the way."  
"You deserved it!"  
"I did not! I merely took advantage of the conversational opening that was there!"  
"Oh, whatever!"  
"Don't whatever me, Miss Whatever!"  
"I'll whatever whoever I want to whatever!"  
"Do what?!"  
"That's what I thought," Amy said and tossed her hair. "I win!"  
  
"Oh you so suck," Matt said.  
"Okay, this is information that I DON'T need to know!" Jeff complained. "Whatever you do behind closed doors should stay there!"  
"Hush Jeff. Try getting your mind out of the gutter for once, because that conversation was completely innocent!" Amy told him as they reached the catering area. "Now be quiet and let me eat in peace and quiet!"  
Jeff just rolled his eyes at her as they walked in and went straight for the buffet line. "Oooh, macaroni and cheese!" Jeff practically drooled at the sight of his favorite food.  
"Down boy," Amy said, handing him a napkin. "You might need this."  
"Oh shut up," Jeff said, sticking his tongue out at her.  
Amy just laughed and filled her plate with food and made her way to the table where Shane Helms was sitting. "Hey Hurridork," she joked.  
"What's up sunshine?" Shane said.  
"Not a whole lot, how are you?"  
"Kinda upset actually. I just lost a match to La Resistance," Shane said sadly.  
"Oh," Amy said. She didn't really know who to side with on this one. She loved Shane like a brother and was sad that he'd lost, but then again she was happy for Rene because he'd turned out to be a genuinely nice guy and he deserved to do well in the company.  
"Yeah," Shane shrugged. "Oh well, shit happens and life goes on."  
"Pretty much," Amy agreed. She smiled up at Matt as he came to sit down next to her.  
"What's up Shane?" Matt asked.  
"Nothing much dude, you?"  
"About the same, although trying to keep your sanity when Amy and Jeff fight all the time is damn near impossible," Matt said, looking at his girlfriend out of the corner of his eye.  
"Hey, at least I'm not as bad as Jean," Amy said. "She and Jeff have some pretty spectacular fights!"  
"Who's Jean?" Shane asked, completely confused.  
"My cousin," Matt explained. "She debuted tonight as the new member of Evolution. She interfered in Jeff and Randy's match...you probably saw her."  
"OH!" Shane exclaimed. "Dang, how did she get to be so cute when she's related to you two freaks?" he asked, directing his question to both Matt and Jeff who was getting ready to sit down at the table.  
"I don't know either," Amy said, teasing her boyfriend. "I guess all the good genes just skipped over these two and went straight to her."  
"Hey!" Matt protested. "I'm cute!"  
"I'm cuter!" Jeff claimed.  
"No, you're not!" Amy said, supporting her boyfriend.  
"Ha! So you do think I'm cute!" Matt crowed gleefully.  
"No, I just said that you're cuter than Jeff. I still could think that you were butt-ass ugly though," Amy said, winking at Shane.  
"That hurt Amy, that really did," Matt said, looking down at his plate sadly.  
"Aww, sweetie," Amy said, caving at the look on Matt's face. "You know I think you're the hottest man around. I wouldn't be going out with you if I didn't think you were adorable!"  
"That's better," Matt said, kissing her on the cheek.  
Jeff gagged at the sickeningly sweet display. "Y'all can stop at any time now."  
"Yeah please," Shane agreed. "Lily's back in North Carolina for another two weeks, and the last thing I want to see right now is two people being lovey-dovey because it just makes me miss her," he said sadly, thinking about his girlfriend.  
"Aww," Amy cooed, looking at Shane. "That's so cute! How long have y'all been together now?"  
"We've been official for a little over a year, but we've been seeing each other for a year and a half," Shane told her. "She's back home right now because her younger sister just graduated from college last weekend and is moving in with her."  
"That's cool," Amy said. "So is her sister going to work here too?"  
"Yeah, Anne got a job on the writing team because she said that she couldn't stand doing wardrobe with Lily because working with her all the time would drive her up the wall," Shane said, smiling at the memory. "Anne said it reminds her too much of what living at home was like when they shared a bedroom, and that it just got worse when they went to high school together."  
Jeff looked at Matt then back at Shane. "You have no idea how bad is. Try living with Matt for eighteen years!"  
"I wasn't as bad as you were!" Matt complained. "I didn't play my damn guitar at 3 AM every night!"  
  
"I only did that for a week!"  
  
"Well, it was a week longer than I wanted to listen to it!"  
  
"I'd just broken up with Beth! Give me a break here!"  
"Dude, you broke up with Beth every other month!"  
  
"So? They were still traumatic!"  
"Dude, you don't even know what that word means!"  
  
"SO? It sounded cool at least!"  
"Ahh!" Matt rolled his eyes at Jeff. "You're hopeless. Absolutely hopeless!"  
  
"Y'all can stop at any time now. You know that?" Amy said. Her attention was suddenly distracted from the bickering brothers when she saw Randy Orton walk into the catering room. *What in the world?* she wondered to herself as she saw the sad look on his face. "I'll be right back," she said to the guys, who nodded and continued their fight as Shane looked on and laughed. She quickly made her way over to Randy who was sitting at a back table by himself and she sat down across from him.  
"Hey," Randy said, looking up as he saw Amy sit down across from him.  
"Hey," Amy replied. "What's wrong?"  
"Nothing," Randy denied, looking down again.  
"Bullshit. What's going on?"  
"Don't worry about it Amy. It's nothing important."  
"Don't try that crap with me Randy. I've been dating Matt for two years now, and I can tell when a guy doesn't want to admit something's wrong. So you can either tell me now, or we can do this the hard way."  
"What exactly is the hard way?" Randy joked, trying to avoid the subject.  
"I tickle you until you tell me the truth."  
"Ookay then. I'd rather avoid that."  
"Good. Now tell me what's going on."  
"I...uh...well, I kinda like someone," he admitted shyly.  
Amy got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. *This is so not going to be good.* "And...?"  
"Well...I don't think she likes me back."  
"Have you asked her?"  
"Well, no. But she had a date with a guy tonight, so I don't think she'd be interested in me."  
*Uh-oh.* "Well, it wouldn't hurt to ask Randy. You never know unless you ask because a lot of girls don't wear their hearts on their sleeve because it's easier when a guy doesn't know how you feel about them."  
"Yeah, I guess."  
"So am I allowed to know who this girl is?" Amy asked, even though she had a very distinct feeling that she knew who it was.  
Randy just looked at her.  
"It's Jean isn't it," she said quietly.  
Randy nodded, then looked down at his hands again without a word.  
"Oh, crap," Amy said unhappily. "Well, I guess I'm going to have to take back my advice because I know that she's really happy with Rene right now."  
Randy nodded sadly. "I know. I saw them when they left for their date. They were both laughing and running down the hallway."  
"Oh, Randy, I'm...I'm sorry." Amy really didn't know what to say.  
"Don't be," he told her, shaking his head. "You didn't know that I was going to be interested in her the first time that I met her. It's no one's fault. Rene just found her first, and if they're happy together than great! She should be happy because she seems like a great girl."  
Amy stared at him. Although she knew that Randy was nowhere near as bad as his Evolution persona, she hadn't realized that he was this decent of a guy. "That's really sweet of you Randy."  
He shrugged. "Yeah well, I'm not as big of an asshole as everyone seems to think that I am. Just because I play one doesn't make me one."  
  
Amy nodded. "Randy, I never thought you were an asshole off camera."  
Randy smiled ruefully. "Yeah well, you're one of the few."  
Amy leaned across the table and hugged him. "It's cool Randy. I think you're a great guy. I'll make you a deal though."  
"What?"  
"I'll try and find you a good girl to date as long as you promise to be careful around Jean in the ring."  
"Well, sure, but that's not much of a deal for you because I'd be doing that anyway," Randy said, slightly confused.  
"I know, but it makes it sound better to Matt and Jeff if I can say that I have your promise to avoid hurting her at all costs," Amy explained.  
"Oh, okay," Randy said. "Well, I guess we've got a deal then."  
"Awesome!" Amy said happily. "Well, I'm going to go save Shane from the battling brothers, so I'll talk to you later then."  
"Yeah," Randy said, smiling halfheartedly up at her. He appreciated her effort to make him feel better by offering to find him a girl, but he wasn't sure that that would work out the way she had planned. He had such a hard time with girls, even though his persona was this cocky stud who always had girls...but Randy was just the opposite. He was shy around girls that he really liked because he'd learned the hard way that all too often girls were only interested in him because of the way he looked and his profession, and that he was looked upon as something of a trophy date. He hadn't had a serious girlfriend since his first year in the WWE, and that had ended after he'd overheard her boasting to her friends at a party about how she was just using him for all the perks that came with being a wrestler's girlfriend and that she didn't even care about him. He finally got up and made his way back to Evolution's dressing room to get his stuff and head back to the hotel.  
"Dude, are you okay?" Dave asked as he saw the look on Randy's face.  
"Yeah, I'm fine Batista. Don't worry about it," Randy said, shrugging it off.  
"Okay," Dave said doubtfully. "But if you want to talk about it I'm more than willing to listen."  
"Thanks," Randy said as he swung his bag over his shoulder and headed for the parking lot. "See you later." 


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17:  
"So did you want to go through the drive-thru or go inside?" Rene asked Jean as they reached Wendys.  
"Um, I really don't care," Jean admitted. "I think we'd be fine inside though because I'm definitely not well-known at all, and they're not going to expect to see a WWE wrestler with some random girl at Wendy's."  
Rene laughed. "I suppose when you put it that way," he joked as he pulled into a parking space. "Inside it is then." He quickly made his way around the car after he got out of his door to open Jean's door for her and then he shut it behind her as she stood up.  
"Why thank you kind sir," she said and did a mock curtsey.  
"You're quite welcome my lady," Rene said and bowed.  
Jean laughed and headed towards the door to the restaurant with Rene following behind her. "So how did you feel about your match tonight?"  
"Great! We won, and that makes me really happy! It's nice to be able to win every once in awhile, especially since we're such a new team."  
"Yeah, I can understand how that goes. It must be frustrating to know that you could beat the other team if the moves weren't completely scripted."  
"Oh yes, there really are no words to describe that," Rene said, rolling his eyes. "But then again, it's better to have everything scripted because then there are no grey areas and everyone knows exactly what's going to happen from the outset. It can get really bad if someone makes a minor mistake though. That's how people get injured. Especially if they land wrong or if they do something as minor as setting a foot wrong when they go to do a move," Rene's face darkened as he remembered some of the injuries he'd seen.  
"Really? Well, that's not really too surprising I guess. Has anything like that happened to you?" Jean asked curiously.  
"No, I've been lucky so far, but I've seen some really bad injuries happen. There was a guy who was in the indy federation with me a couple years ago who went to do a swanton bomb and he missed the guy that he was aiming for because he hesitated when he jumped and he broke his neck and was paralyzed," Rene said sadly.  
"Oh my God," Jean said, shocked. "That's awful."  
  
"Oh I know," Rene said. "I was supposed to have the match after him, but after that accident, they just ended the show. They refunded the ticket price to everyone in attendance because that had only been the second match on the card."  
Jean shook her head slowly. "I really hope that doesn't happen to Matt or Jeff. I don't know how well I could handle that if either of them were to get injured. They've been there for me through so much and I hate to think of either of them getting hurt like that."  
Rene nodded. "I know exactly how you feel. You're just in shock after something like that happens because you know how easily it could happen to you, but you can't give in and admit it to yourself because that's just setting yourself up to have an accident. You have to be completely confident in every move that you make, because if you start to doubt yourself it only takes a split second to screw up a move and that's a life or death thing sometimes, especially when you do aerial moves like your cousin and Lita do."  
Jean nodded and started to say something when she was interrupted.  
"Hi, and welcome to Wendy's. What can I get for you today?"  
"Um, why don't you go ahead Rene, I don't know what I want," Jean said, motioning for him to step forward.  
"Okay. I'll have a spicy chicken meal with a coke," Rene said, smiling at the waitress.  
"Okay. Would you like anything else?" the cashier asked, smiling at Rene and blatantly checking him out as she rang up his order.  
"Well, whatever she wants," Rene said, looking over at Jean.  
"Oh no, I can pay for my own," Jean said, shaking her head at him.  
"I don't think so," Rene said. "I asked you out, and I'm paying. Now order your food and be nice!"  
  
"Well fine then, be that way," Jean said and stuck her tongue out at him. She turned to face the cashier, and raised an eyebrow at the way the cashier was blatantly checking Rene out, and not at all paying attention to her. "Excuse me," she said softly, and waited until the girl turned back towards her with flushed cheeks as she realized that she'd been caught. "I'd like the same thing he ordered, but with a sprite."  
"Sure, is that everything then?" The girl was obviously embarrassed to have been caught staring at Rene judging from how flushed her cheeks were.  
"That's it," Jean said.  
"Your total is eight forty-seven. Is that going to be for here or to go?" she asked as she took the ten dollar bill Rene handed her.  
Jean glanced at Rene who shrugged. "For here," she decided.  
"Okay, I'll have that for you in just a minute," the girl said as she gave Rene his change, and then walked away.  
"You can go ahead and sit down if you want," Rene told Jean.  
"Oh, so the cashier can hit on you instead of just undressing you with her eyes?"  
"What?" Rene asked, genuinely confused.  
Jean shook her head. "That girl was all but drooling over you. Not that I can blame her," she finished with a wink.  
Rene flushed as he realized the compliment that Jean had just given him. "Why thank you fair lady," he said and smiled at her.  
"You're ever so welcome dear sir."  
"Here you go. Have a nice night!" the girl said as she placed their food on the tray, without ever looking Rene or Jean in the eye.  
"You too," Jean said, as she followed Rene to a table.  
"So are you glad that you're a part of the WWE now?" Rene asked as he unwrapped his sandwich.  
"Oh my gosh, yeah!" Jean said enthusiastically. "Tonight was so much fun! It was really exhilarating to actually be in the ring, and even though I really didn't do much of anything tonight, it was still such an adrenaline rush!"  
  
"I know exactly how you feel. It's just an incredible feeling when you walk down to the ring, and you hear the cheers, or even the boos from the crowd because you know that they actually give a damn about you and who you are. As long as they're making noise, then you know that they have some feelings about you. It's when they're silent that you should worry," he said, smiling.  
"Alright, so as long as people are making noise I should be happy."  
  
"Oh definitely. So do you know how long you're going to be with Evolution?"  
"No, I really don't. Vince said that I probably wouldn't be with them indefinitely, but he didn't give me a time frame, or tell me where I'd be going if I did leave them. I don't think that it'll be all that bad though. Randy seems pretty nice, so he should be easy enough to work with. I haven't met any of the other guys though, so that might be kind of interesting."  
"Well, from what I've seen around the backstage area, Paul, Triple H, is okay most of the time, but when he gets into a fight with Stephanie you better run for cover because he's an asshole; Dave Batista is pretty quiet when he's not around the other guys, so I don't know that much about him but I haven't really heard anything bad; and from what I've heard although Ric Flair is a jackass a lot of the time, as long as he likes you he'll be nice to you, and I don't think that you should have a problem with that."  
"Aw, thanks," Jean said, blushing slightly.  
"Excuse me," a child's voice said from somewhere behind Jean.  
"Yes?" Rene asked, looking down at him.  
"You're on Raw aren't you?" the little boy asked excitedly. He looked to be about nine years old, wearing an Evolution 'Paid, Laid, and Made' t-shirt and jeans.  
"Um, yeah," Rene said quietly, hoping that this wouldn't turn into a mob scene.  
"I knew I was right!" he said happily, bouncing up and down. "You were really good tonight! You're pretty too." he said looking at Jean. "But why did you have to hurt Jeff and Lita like that?"  
"Well, Jeff and Lita know that I love them, but my place right now is with Randy and the rest of Evolution," Jean said quickly, latching on to the answer that made the most sense.  
"Oh," the little boy said quietly. "But if you're with Randy, then why are you here with him?"  
"We're just hanging out and getting dinner because Randy had a meeting with Eric Bischoff after the show," Rene explained.  
"Oh. Does he know you're with HIM?" the little boy asked, making a face at Rene. "He's just a stuck up French guy."  
Jean laughed. "Yeah, but he's not that bad once you get to know him. But yes, Randy knows I'm with him, so it's not a big deal."  
  
"That's cool then. Randy's awesome and I don't want to see you hurt him!" the little boy said seriously, staring Jean down.  
"I can promise you that I won't do anything to hurt Randy's feelings," Jean said, trying not to laugh at the boy's earnest face.  
"Good," he said happily. "Can I get your autograph?"  
"Um, yeah," Jean said, digging through her purse to look for a pen. She finally found one and grabbed an unused napkin from the pile. "What's your name?"  
"Jason," he said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I wanna be a wrestler when I grow up!" he told them seriously. "I wanna be just like Randy and Triple H!"  
"Well, if you start training and you do really well, then one day you'll be great, just like them," Jean said, smiling down at him as she signed the autograph 'To Jason, a great Evolution fan! -'Princess' Jean Hardy'. "There you go!" she said, handing him the napkin.  
"Thanks!" he said happily, then ran back to his parents who smiled indulgently at their son as he proudly showed off his autograph.  
"Well, that was interesting," Jean said thoughtfully. "I wonder why I'm with you since you're such a dumb French guy," she teased Rene.  
"I don't know either," he replied. "After all, I'm just not as good as Randy."  
They both looked at each other and laughed before returning to their food.  
"That was cool though," Jean said. "That just like made my day to know that someone wanted my autograph."  
  
"Yeah, it's a terrific feeling," Rene agreed.  
"It just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside," Jean said with a grin.  
"What?" Rene asked, completely confused.  
Jean laughed. "You know how when you were a little kid you had a stuffed animal to cuddle with? Well, back then what it took for me to be happy was to be warm and have your fuzzy animal to cuddle with, so my friends and I always joked around that when something made you happy it made you feel all warm and fuzzy inside."  
"Oh, okay," Rene said as he grasped her point. "That's a cute saying."  
"I always thought it was," Jean said happily as she finished her food. "I'm going to go to the bathroom so I'll be right back," she told him, excusing herself from the table.  
"Sure thing," Rene said, smiling at her as she walked away, and then he went back to her food.  
"Hey."  
He heard a female voice say to him, and he turned to his left to see the girl who'd been working at the counter when they ordered their food.  
"Hi," he said, completely confused.  
"Look, I know that you're probably with that girl who just went to the bathroom, but just in case you're not and you get bored later, here's my cell phone number. I get off at midnight, so just give me a call," the girl said as she handed him a piece of paper and winked at him as she walked off, swinging her hips. "My name's Andrea just so you know."  
Rene stared at the girl in complete confusion, then dropped the piece of paper into the trash pile on the tray. He didn't want anyone else but Jean, and he had no clue why the girl thought that he'd want her number. "Well, on second thought," he said, grabbing it and crumpling it into a little ball and then sticking it into his pocket so that Jean wouldn't see it and get upset with the girl. He made a mental note to throw it out once they got back to the hotel. "You ready?" he asked Jean as she made her way back to the table.  
"Yup," she said, grabbing her purse from the table.  
"Well, let's go then," he said, picking up the tray with the trash and walking towards the exit, via the nearest trash can. He winced inwardly as the girl at the register winked as he held the door open for Jean and reminded himself to throw out her phone number after they got back. "So where to now?" he asked as they got back into the car.  
"Um, I don't really care, but I'm pretty tired so I would prefer something that doesn't require a lot of energy," Jean said.  
"So...movie in the hotel room?" Rene suggested.  
"Works for me," Jean said happily as she started flipping through stations on the radio as Rene prepared to drive to the hotel. She found a song she liked and started singing along with it happily.  
"Hey, isn't this your entrance music?" Rene asked, looking at her.  
"Yeah, it's Trapt's 'Headstrong'," Jean told him. "I figure that it fits me well enough."  
Rene laughed. "Yes, it would seem to," he teased.  
Jean shrugged. "Yeah well, what can ya do?"  
"Nothing I guess."  
"Yeah, basically."  
The two chatted about minor things on the way back to the hotel, and Jean found out that Rene's favorite actor was Johnny Depp, his favorite movie was "Blow", and his favorite band was the Rolling Stones, while Rene found out that Jean's favorite actor was Matt Damon, her favorite movie was "West Side Story", and her favorite band was Linkin Park. Once they arrived back at the hotel they elected to go to Jean's room since it would be bigger since she was sharing a suite with Matt, Amy, and Jeff. The two entered the room, expecting loud people running around, but entered to silence.  
"Wow, I wonder where they're at," Jean said, surprised at their absence. "Oh wait," she said, as she saw the note on the nightstand. She quickly read it, then shaking her head she turned to Rene. "They went out to a club, so they'll be pouring themselves into bed sometime around dawn probably. We've got a couple hours of peace and quiet to watch the movie then."  
"That's cool," Rene said, smiling as he realized that meant that he would get to spend more time alone with the girl that he was quickly falling for, and would dearly love to have as his girlfriend. "So what movie did you want to watch?"  
"Um, what are my options?" Jean asked as Rene turned on the hotel's in-room movie service and started looking through the options.  
"Uh, 'Bringing Down The House', 'Tears of the Sun', 'Bend It Like Beckham', 'Willard', 'Boat Trip'," Rene listed off the options.  
"Definitely 'Bend It Like Beckham'," Jean said enthusiastically. "I LOVE that movie!"  
"Okay then," Rene said laughing as he ordered the movie. He sat down on the couch to watch the movie and smiled happily as Jean sat down next to him and put her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her and once they were both comfortable they settled down to watch the movie. Two hours later, he stretched slightly as the movie ended, and he turned off the tv. He enjoyed the movie a lot more than he expected, considering the fact that the previews had made it look pretty odd, but considering his company, he supposed it wasn't too surprising. He smiled as he looked down at Jean, who had fallen asleep about an hour into the movie and hadn't moved since. He tried to get up without waking her, but as he tried to ease away she murmured a complaint. He shook his head and laughed silently. *She's as stubborn when she's asleep as she is when she's awake!* he thought to himself. *Well, I'll just lay her and hold her for a little bit...after all, there's no harm done in that. I'm not that tired so I'll just stay here until everyone else gets back.* Rene slowly eased himself down to a prone position on the couch with Jean stretched out in front of him, and he draped an arm around her waist as he thought about how his life had changed ever since she'd entered it. He was so much happier now than he had been three weeks ago when he'd met her, and it was all because of her. He was becoming friends with several of the wrestlers that he'd never thought would give him the time of day, and he was hoping that Jean would shortly become his girlfriend. *I'm going to ask her soon.* he told himself. *Maybe next week after Raw. I would do it tomorrow, because I really want to, but I don't want to rush things. It'd be better to give her time to think about everything and make her decision.* He smiled as he made his decision to ask her next week, and with those happy thoughts he drifted off to sleep.  
He and Jean were both completely asleep three hours later when Amy and Jeff walked into the room, supporting a completely drunk Matt. The two quickly took Matt into the separate bedroom and laid him down on the bed so that he could sleep, then walked back out to look at the sleeping pair.  
"Aw, they're so cute," Amy whispered to Jeff.  
"Yeah, they really are," he admitted softly. "I hope he knows that if he hurts her there's going to be hell to pay."  
"I'm sure he does," Amy said. "Well, anyway, we'll just let them sleep because I don't want to wake them up. They look too adorable for that."  
Jeff rolled his eyes at Amy's sentimentality. "Alright dear. They'll be paying for it in the morning though," he predicted. "That couch didn't look too comfortable."  
Amy shook her head. "Typical male," she complained. She disappeared into the bedroom and came back out with a blanket that she draped over the two. "There," she said happily. "This way they won't get cold during the night."  
"Good night Amy," Jeff said, grinning at her efforts.  
"Night Jeff," Amy said as she went back to her room to deal with her trashed boyfriend. 


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18:  
Jean awoke slowly as light began to fill the room. She tried to stretch the kinks out of her muscles, but realized that she couldn't move because someone was holding her tightly. *What in the hell?* she wondered as she lifted the blanket up with her free arm since she was laying on the other, and glanced down to see a male arm draped over her waist, holding her close to his body. She was confused for a second, but then she recognized the clothes and a smile came to her face. She twisted her body slightly and looked up at Rene, who was still asleep. *Aw, he looks so innocent.* she thought as she saw the peaceful smile on his face. *I don't want to wake him up, but I really have to go to the bathroom.* she thought unhappily. *Well, here goes nothing!* She carefully began to ease out of his arms, trying her hardest not to wake him up, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she made it off the couch because she thought that she had succeeded in her goal. She quietly made her way to the bathroom, and then when she came out a few minutes later, her face fell as she saw Rene sitting up on the couch and stretching. "Shit," she said. "I'm so sorry! I was trying not to wake you up."  
  
Rene smiled at her. "It's okay. I woke up as soon as you got up because it didn't feel right."  
"Aww," Jean said and flushed, completely embarrassed by his compliment. *That was so adorable! I've never had a guy say anything that sweet to me before!* "That's really sweet Rene."  
Rene shrugged slightly. "It's the truth though," he admitted shyly.  
Jean smiled happily at him, then yawned widely. "Excuse me!"  
"It's alright," Rene said, chuckling.  
Jean glanced at Rene, then longingly at the unoccupied bed. "Would you mind..."  
"Go back to sleep," Rene said, immediately understanding what she was asking. He sat back down on the couch and went for his shoes to put them on, but was interrupted by Jean.  
"That's not what I meant dearie," she said, rolling her eyes.  
"Huh?" Rene was completely confused.  
"C'mon," she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the bed. She pulled the blankets down and crawled in, motioning for him to follow her.  
He stood at the edge of the bed, just looking at her. "Wha...wha...I mean...why?"  
"Because you're right, it did feel right when we were together," Jean admitted slowly. "And I liked the feeling of being held by you, because it made me feel like I was safe, and that no one was ever going to be able to hurt me again." She knew that while Rene wouldn't completely grasp the significance of that, because he didn't know what had happened in her past since Mr. McMahon had, as she requested, kept it a secret from everyone, but she had a feeling that he would appreciate it, and understand it in his own way.  
Rene smiled happily at her as he started to climb into the bed, then paused. "Wait," he said. "Your cousins aren't going to kill me for this are they?"  
Jean giggled at the nervous look on his face. "No, of course not! Sweetie, if they were going to hurt you they would have done it last night when they came back and found us asleep on the couch together. If they'd truly been upset about it they wouldn't have put a blanket on top of us," she reasoned.  
"Oh," Rene said, unable to doubt the truth of that. "Well, I guess if you're sure that they won't because I don't much care for the idea of being put in a hospital because the guard dogs you call your cousins don't like the idea."  
Jean rolled her eyes. "They won't hurt you, I promise," she said, holding up her right hand. "And even if they wanted to, I won't let them hurt you."  
Rene nodded, and then climbed into bed and laid down next to her, smiling as he felt her cuddle close to his side with her head on his chest. He slid his arm underneath her shoulders and began to lazily play with her hair as he closed his eyes and started to think. He understood exactly what she was saying because whenever he held her, all he wanted to do was protect her from everything that life could throw at her. She wasn't technically his to hold and to protect yet, but he was going to do everything in his power to do so. He promised myself that he was never going to let her get hurt while she was in the WWE...he didn't care if she was technically with Evolution because they couldn't always be there for her backstage, and even though he knew that Matt, Jeff, and Amy would all lay down their lives for her, he still wanted to be the one that was there to shield her from all the evil in the world. *Wait, what the hell am I thinking?!* Rene stopped himself abruptly. He opened his eyes and looked down at Jean, only to realize that she had already fallen asleep again with a smile on her face. She looked so much like an angel in her sleep that he couldn't help but to fall for her a little more. She was honestly the sweetest person he'd ever met, and she was the first to look beyond the persona that the WWE had assigned to him when they started, and he had to admit that he'd started to fall for her ever since she'd cannonballed into him around that corner. His lips twisted up into a smile as he remembered the look on her face as she'd landed on her ass and the way that she'd just shrugged it off and laughed at herself. He didn't know many girls who would have been able to do that. He hugged her close to his side, then slowly drifted back off to sleep himself. 


	19. Author's Note

Author's Note:  
  
I've noticed that I'm not really getting any reviews on this story anymore, and I was wondering if you even wanted me to continue it. I want to thank huntersgirl for being my most loyal reviewer, but it seems like there really isn't any great interest in the story. If you still want me to write more let me know, but if not then I'll just stop working on it. Thanks. 


	20. Chapter 19

A/N: Wow, since according to the amazing response of 17 readers I guess I'm just not allowed to quit writing this series. Thank you all so much for letting me know that you enjoy my story, because it makes me happy to know that others like what I do. Anyway, here's the next chapter, so please R&R and let me know what you think!  
  
Chapter 19:  
Jean bounced up and down happily as she followed her cousins into the arena. "I'm so glad that the show is tonight because I'll finally get to see Rene again!"  
  
"Oh GOD! Someone PLEASE make her SHUT up!" Jeff whined to Amy and Matt. "If I have to hear one more word about Rene I might just have to find the kid myself and beat the crap out of him!"  
  
"NO!" Jean yelped, giving her cousin a dirty look.  
"Jeff. You're not going to hurt Rene, and that's final," Amy said, rolling her eyes at him. "Now why don't you be a good little boy and go to your locker room with Matt, and I'll take Jean to go find Rene and then to Evolution's locker room."  
"Fine by me," Jeff said, relieved to escape from the sickeningly sweet relationship that Rene and his cousin had developed over the past three weeks. Granted, yes they were both teenagers so they were going to be really cute but it was still enough to make him gag when they were cooing over each other. Times like that he really wished he had a girlfriend....well, maybe not considering the way that his last relationship had turned out. He winced as he remembered the last time he'd talked to Beth three weeks ago.  
  
~Flashback~  
"So I heard that you needed to talk to me about something," Jeff said, crossing his arms over his chest.  
"Well..." Beth started and trailed off gradually, looking up at Jeff from under her eyelashes coyly. "I just wanted to see if you were open to the possibility of us ever getting back together."  
Jeff stared at her in shock. "EXCUSE me? In the space of the three years that we dated, you cheated on me eight times, and you have the nerve to ask me if I'd take you back?!"  
"Well, yeah," Beth said, shrugging. "I know that you still love me, and I still want you so I thought that we could give it another shot."  
"Oh really. Is it me that you want, or is it all of the perks that come with being a wrestler's girlfriend?"  
"Well, both actually. You're great and all, and I love your house and your car, not to mention everything else."  
Jeff just looked at her, unable to believe how shallow she was. "You have got to be the most completely fake person I have ever met. I have no idea what it was that changed you from the sweet girl that you once were into this. If you went home right now, I doubt that your parents would even recognize you, and I have to admit that I wish I didn't recognize you either. Listen to me, and pay attention carefully this time Beth. We're done. I never want to talk to you or see your face again. There is absolutely no chance in hell that I would ever take you back, and you need to just stop trying. You screwed up your chances with me a long time ago, and I'd like to think that I'm smart enough not to ever want to put up with your shit again. Now do me a favor, and don't ever try to approach me or any member of my family again." Jeff turned and started to walk away as soon as he finished speaking. He didn't ever want to see her face again.  
"But, but...Jeff! Think about all the good times we had! You know that no one ever did as much for you as I have!" Beth protested as she realized that her prey was getting away.  
Jeff stopped and turned to look at her. "That's what you think. I had a better support system from people who barely even knew me than I ever got from you. All you wanted from me was to be able to have free run of my house, the keys to my cars, and my bank account. You never gave a damn about me other than what I could give you."  
Beth bit her lip as she realized that he had her measure. "Oh, whatever Jeff. You know me better than that!" she claimed, trying to play it off. "I'm still the same sweet girl that you fell in love with."  
"No, you're not. Now do me a favor and leave me alone. FOREVER."  
Beth pouted as she watched Jeff walk away from her down the hallway. Her eyes narrowed at his retreating back as she vowed to herself that they weren't over, and that she would do whatever was in her power to get him back. Come hell, high water, that bitch of a cousin of his, his brother or his brother's girlfriend...Jeff was going to be hers again. Oh yes he would. Jeff and all of the wonderful things that came with him. She sighed happily as she pictured herself driving his Corvette again. God but she'd been able to pick up guys with that car. After all, a sweet car and a hot girl driving it...what more could any guy ask for? Beth tossed her hair and made her way back to the office to finish running off copies of the script for all the wrestlers.  
  
~End Flashback~  
  
"Dude, are you there?" Matt asked, waving his hand in front of Jeff's eyes.  
"Yeah, yeah, I'm here. What did you want?"  
"To go to the locker room?" Matt made the comment both a statement and a question.  
"I'm coming," Jeff said, following Matt and trying to block out his memories of Beth. He knew that she was bad for him, so he was doing his best to stay away from him but it was just hard to throw away three years and pretend that you didn't care about the other person at all.  
"Here's your script," a stagehand said, walking through the backstage area and passing off scripts to the two of them.  
Jeff's eyes narrowed as he read his match for the night. "A tag-team match with Gail Kim against Randy Orton and Jean? What the hell is this shit?!"  
"That's a bunch of crap!" Matt exclaimed reading over his script. "It's not so much of a big deal that they're making you do a run-in to save Gail from Molly and Victoria, but having to kiss her afterwards? I don't know about that."  
"I don't like it at all. I want it changed," Jeff said, glaring down at the pieces of paper in his hand. "Where's the creative team located?"  
"Um, I think it's somewhere down that corridor," Matt said, pointing off to their left. "Were you going to go now or do you want to drop your bag off first?"  
"Well, can you take my bag to the locker room for me? I'll be there in a little bit after I have it out with whoever's bright idea it was to put me together with freaking Gail Kim. I have SERIOUS issues with that one," Jeff said, handing his bag off to Matt. This seriously pissed him off that they couldn't have at least asked him before putting him in a romantic angle with Gail Kim. He didn't want to be put in a romantic angle with anyone right now, least of all HER. She was a lying backstabbing hoe who would sleep with anyone to make her way to the top. After all, she'd slept with Eric Bischoff to make sure that she won the Women's Championship belt in her debut match. Granted, Jeff knew that he had to deal with a lot of shit to be in the WWE...but he drew the line at having a romantic angle with him. He'd rather have the angle with Molly Holly than with Gail Kim. Sure, Molly Holly was a prude and a bit of a bitch, but she was a hell of a lot easier to be around than Gail Kim. He wouldn't have to worry about Molly trying to seduce him or trying to cop a feel every time that they had a promo.  
  
*KNOCK*  
  
Jeff knocked on the door of the creative team's office loudly, and was prepared to yell in the face of whoever opened the door. "WHAT..." he started to yell, but trailed off as he saw the attractive young woman who opened the door.  
She tilted her head to the side as Jeff continued to stare at her with his mouth open, and she reached out to close his jaw. "Careful, you might catch flies that way."  
Jeff stared blankly at her for a second, then shook himself out of his trance and looked down at the script in his hand, and reminded himself of why he was upset. "I want to know whose idea it was to put me into a romantic angle with Gail Kim. I refuse to do it."  
The woman looked at him in surprise. She didn't realize that wrestlers were allowed to refuse angles. "May I ask why?"  
"Because I don't like her, and I don't feel like having to avoid being felt up every time that I'm around her. Being near her makes my skin crawl, and the thought of having to spend any actual amount of time around her makes me want to by physically ill," Jeff admitted candidly looking her in the eyes.  
The woman nodded slowly. "Okay, that would be reason enough for me. Give me like twenty minutes and I'll see what I can work out."  
"Good," Jeff said happily. "Um, thanks. Sorry for yelling like that," he apologized sheepishly.  
"No, it's fine. I can understand why you would be unhappy about being put into a storyline like that when you have a deep antipathy towards the other person. Out of curiosity, is there any specific storyline that you'd like to see implemented in its place?" the woman asked.  
"Um, scratch the run-in altogether, or if you must do a run-in, add Trish to the match and I'll go save her, and kiss her, and then we can do something with that, and then have it be a tag team match with me and Trish versus Jean and Randy. If you're able to scratch the run-in completely, then have it be a tag-team match between me and Lita versus Jean and Randy, because that would still fit in with her debut storyline where she interfered in the match between me and Randy," Jeff suggested.  
The woman nodded slowly. "I'll see what I can do," she said simply. "I'm not promising anything, but I'll see what I can do. I'll do the rewrites and have the scripts sent out shortly."  
"Thank you."  
"You're very welcome. Besides, it's not like you came in here wanting the angle changed because Gail Kim wasn't hot enough or something. You had an actual legitimate reason for wanting the script change," the woman reasoned.  
Jeff nodded slowly, then started to turn away. "Oh wait...this is going to seem slightly weird, but since you know exactly who I am...can I ask who you are?"  
The woman laughed. "I didn't think that you'd recognized me," she said shaking her head. "I'm Anne." At Jeff's continued look of confusion, she added, "Lily's sister...you know Shane's girlfriend Lily?"  
"Oh my God," Jeff said, staring at her. "I feel like such an ass for not recognizing you!"  
Anne shrugged. "Hey, don't worry about it. It's been what...five years since the last time you saw me? I look a lot different than I did when I was a junior in high school."  
*Yeah, you're not joking!* Jeff thought to himself. *She definitely hadn't been that pretty back when she was in high school. Well, sure she'd been attractive, but she'd also been jailbait so that had been a no-no.* "Yeah, you're right. You look almost nothing like you did in high school," Jeff admitted.  
"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but yeah," Anne said, smiling at him.  
"Oh, it's a good thing," Jeff told her, blushing slightly.  
"Well thanks," she said, smiling at him. "Anyway, I gotta go write up the changes to the script so I'll see you around."  
"Yeah sure," Jeff said, nodding inanely as she closed the door behind her, and then as he turned to walk back to his locker room, he hit himself in the head with the script. *Why am I so stupid?! Let's just stand there and stare blankly at her, not to mention let's forget who she is! God, today is just not going to be one of my better days!* 


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20:  
"Hey sweetie," Jean said cheerfully, as she bounced happily into Rene's locker room.  
"Hey hun," Rene said, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek. "What's up?"  
"Nothing much. Finally done having to listen to Jeff complain about us, thank God!"  
"Oh really, what's he complaining about?"  
"He says we're too adorable," Jean said, tossing her hair.  
"Well, he's right on one part at least – you're too adorable," Rene said, winking at her.  
Jean rolled her eyes. "Quit. The sappy compliments are not needed."  
"Well fine then," Rene said. "I see how much I'm appreciated." He crossed his arms and pouted.  
"Oh stop that," Jean said, wrinkling her nose at him. "Quit that!" she complained when he gave her the puppy dog eyes. "You know how much I hate it when you do that!"  
"Am I supposed to care about that?" Rene asked, raising his eyebrow.  
"Um, yeah. I'm your girlfriend after all!"  
"Oh right. I forgot about that."  
"WHAT?!"  
"I'm just kidding! I swear! I would never forget something that important!" Rene said, grabbing Jean around the waist as she moved towards the door. "I'm just kidding sweetie," he said, trying to get her to talk to him. "Pleeease?" he begged. "Honey, please talk to me. I'm sorry!"  
Jean raised an eyebrow at him, but still didn't speak.  
"You know I was just kidding sweetie. I would never forget something so important as the fact that you're my girlfriend. I'm too busy being grateful every day that I was blessed with someone as great as you."  
"Aww," Jean cracked at Rene's confession. "That's so sweet."  
Rene smiled happily. "So does this mean that you're talking to me now?"  
"Yeah, I'm talking to you again," Jean said ruefully, shaking her head. "I swear, one of these days I'm going to figure out exactly how you always manage to get me to not be mad at you anymore."  
"Hopefully not," Rene said, slightly alarmed. "If you figure it out, then I'll be screwed! Please don't try!"  
  
Jean laughed at his pleading face. "I make no guarantees."  
"Well that's no fun."  
"So?"  
"Sheesh. You're so sweet sometimes, you know that?"  
"Oh, I try my hardest," Jean said, smiling angelically.  
Rene just shook his head. "Alright then. Anyway sweetie, I need to get ready for my match now, so I'm gonna have to kick you out."  
Jean pouted for a second, then shrugged. "Okie doke. I gotta go find Evolution's locker room and meet up with the guys to see what's going down tonight. I'll talk to you after the show," she said and kissed Rene on the cheek and then headed towards the door.  
"Excuse me," Rene said, acting affronted. "That's all I get?!"  
Jean grinned at her boyfriend and walked back over and kissed him. "Better?"  
"Much," Rene said, satisfied. "I'll talk to you later babe."  
"Bye sweetie," she said, blowing a kiss at him as she walked out the door. She walked happily out of his locker room so that she could go find her own. "Oh shit, I'm so sorry!" she said as she bumped into a girl with long chestnut hair as she came around the corner.  
"Oh, it's okay," the girl said, looking at her. "I've taken worse hits before."  
"I know the feeling," Jean said, rolling her eyes. "It's all worth it in the end though."  
  
"Yeah," the girl agreed. "Anyway, I gotta go find my dad so I'll see you around."  
"Later," Jean said, wrinkling her brow after the retreating girl as she tried to figure out who she was. She'd seen the girl around a lot in the past week or two, but she'd never been introduced to her. To tell the truth, the girl had worried her a little bit because she dressed in leather pants and tight shirts and wore a bandanna over her long chestnut colored hair and she was really pretty, and Jean had been slightly worried that Rene might want her. She wasn't fake pretty like some of the divas, namely Torrie and Sable, Jean thought wrinkling her nose at the thought of the two bitchy divas. She'd met them at one of the pay-per-views, and she really hadn't liked their attitudes at all. They both thought that they were hot shit because they'd posed in Playboy, and they acted like everyone was supposed to get down on their hands and knees and worship the ground they walked on. But now...now that she'd met the girl...she thought that the girl seemed kinda cool. Sure, she had the whole badass persona, but then again, so did Lita...and the girl had taken being bumped into pretty well. Jean made up her mind to find the girl later on that night and formally introduce herself because the girl seemed cool as hell. "Shit!" Jean said as she glanced at her watch, and she hurried off to find Evolution's locker room so that she could get ready for the night.  
"Well, it's nice of you to finally grace us with your presence," Randy joked as she made her way into the locker room ten minutes later.  
"Oh you hush," Jean said, tossing her hair. "I don't need your lip."  
"You might not, but your character does," Randy said, winking at her.  
"Hey, that's not exactly my choice there. I'm with you because I'm forced not because I chose to."  
  
"Ouch, that one hurt," Randy said wincing. "I can see when I'm not loved. I'm just going to go drown myself in the shower now."  
  
"Oh shut up," Jean said, rolling her eyes at Randy's theatrics. "You're too tall to drown in the damn shower. I don't think that I could even do that!"  
"Hey! You just ruined my moment," Randy pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.  
  
"Okay children," Ric said, chuckling at the youngest two's conversation. "Y'all need to quit now so that we can go over the plan for tonight. Jean, here's your script, and you might want to look over it."  
Jean took the script from Ric and quickly flipped through it. "What the hell? I'm managing a tag team match between Randy and Dave and Undertaker and Kane? What the hell?!"  
Dave laughed at the shocked look on her face. "Don't worry about it sweetie, Ric's going to walk down with you so you'll be safe. He'll try and keep Amber off of you."  
"Wait, Amber? Who's Amber?" Jean asked, her attention diverted.  
"Amber is Mark's daughter in real life, and his daughter on the show, but she goes by the ring name of Precious because Mark called her his 'Precious Cargo' one night because she rides in on his motorcycle with him and it just stuck," Dave explained.  
"Wait, does she have long chestnut hair? Really pretty? Wears leather pants & tight shirts?" Jean asked, starting to make a connection.  
"Yeah, that's her," Dave told her. "She comes off as quite the badass though because of the way she looks."  
"Yeah," Randy agreed. "She's hot, but I'd be scared to go anywhere near her because of her dad."  
Jean raised an eyebrow at Randy. "Wait, what was that? The self- professed legend killer is too scared to go near a girl because of her father, who just happens to be a legend!"  
"Yes, but Undertaker is a fighting legend, not a retired one," Randy said. "Not to mention the simple fact that that's my character, not who I really am. I'm saying that outside of the show that I wouldn't mind dating her, but Mark Callaway scared the holy hell out of me and I'd rather not tangle with him if I don't have to. Facing him in the ring is enough for me...I feel no desire to mess with him outside of it. I have a very healthy respect for my own skin, and the bones beneath it, and my personal choice is definitely to remain whole and unbroken."  
Jean stared at Randy thoughtfully, a plan forming in her mind. She thought that Randy and Amber would actually be a cute couple physically. Granted, she didn't know the girl at all or what her personality was like, much less how well it would mesh with Randy's personality, but hey...it was always something to think about.  
"Hey now, I don't like that look in your eyes," Randy said nervously as Jean continued to look at him pensively. "Please don't do this to me."  
"Oh quit being a baby," Jean said, rolling her eyes. "You're a big boy. Act like it."  
Ric laughed. "I guess she just told you Randy."  
"Shut up Ric."  
Ric just laughed at the look on the younger man's face. "Why don't you three all go get ready for your match because it's supposed to start in half an hour?" he suggested.  
"Half an hour? Shit!" Jean cursed as she grabbed her bag which Jeff had dropped off for her and started rooting through it to find her ring attire. She ran straight for the bathroom with clothes in hand and changed quickly into the new outfit that she'd been given after officially joining Evolution, but she hadn't worn it yet because she'd been waiting for just the right time, and she figured that tonight was going to be it. She walked out of the bathroom and struck a pose for the guys jokingly, twirling in a circle slowly. "So what do you think?" she asked, motioning to her short black skirt and fitted light blue 'Evolution: Paid, Laid, and Made' halter top.  
"Ow ow," Ric said, wolf-whistling at her jokingly.  
"The Princess has made her entrance," Randy joked, smiling at her.  
Jean grinned at him and mock-curtsied.  
"Very nice," Dave said, laughing at her attempt to curtsy. "I think that would work better if you had a longer skirt."  
"Yeah, probably," Jean agreed. "But this is what I was given, and y'know...you gotta work with what's available. That's why I'm stuck working with Randy after all."  
Dave laughed. "Burn," he teased Randy.  
Randy shrugged. "Hey, I figure I'm just with her until something better comes along."  
"Hey!" Jean protested, smacking Randy in the arm.  
Randy just smiled down at her innocently. "Can I help you with something?"  
"God but you're impossible," Jean said, rolling her eyes.  
"Yeah, but you love me."  
"I suppose."  
"You suppose?"  
"Yeah, I haven't decided yet."  
"That was kinda harsh."  
"Your point?"  
"Jeez, remind me never to get in an argument with you."  
"Okay. Never get into an argument with me."  
Randy threw his hands up in the air. "And you say that I'M impossible?" he said, rolling his eyes.  
"Yes, I do believe that I did," Jean said, trying not to laugh.  
"That's enough children," Ric said. "Do I need to put you in time- out?"  
"Oh please daddy no!" Jean joked.  
"That's it! Get in your corner!" Ric exclaimed, pointing to one of the corners of the room. "Stay there until I tell you that you can come out."  
Jean laughed and made her way over to the corner, grabbing her bag as she went because the corner he'd pointed to was right by the mirror. She quickly pulled her hair back into two shoulder-length braided pigtails and re-did her make-up for the show, trying to act like the guys weren't watching her. "Okay. Have you never seen a girl get ready before?" she said, turning to them fifteen minutes later.  
"Um, no, not really," Randy admitted. "They're usually ready by the time I get there."  
"Oh lord. So basically the highlight of every Monday night for you is going to be watching me get ready. Dear lord, somebody save me from this insanity!" Jean pleaded, looking at the ceiling.  
Randy just rolled his eyes at her. "Finish getting ready and let's go dearie. We've got a match to fight."  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. So who's supposed to win tonight?" Jean asked as she uncapped her lip gloss and put it on quickly.  
"Taker and Kane," Batista answered.  
"Not surprising," Jean said, recapping it and putting it back in her bag. "I guess you can't kill their legends yet Randy."  
Randy smiled indulgently and patted Jean on the head. "It's okay honey. Just because you're too small to kill any legends...OOF!"  
Jean elbowed him in the stomach at that remark. "Not funny," she said dryly. "Now can we go?"  
"Why of course," Dave said, extending his arm to her.  
"Thank you kind sir," Jean said, linking arms with him, and then she turned to look at Randy. "Are you coming?"  
"Yes dear," he said, linking arms with her so that she was sandwiched between him and Batista.  
Jean looked up at the two of them. "Thank God for high heels," she muttered, looking down at the four inch heels on her boots.  
Dave laughed. "It's okay little one. You might grow eventually."  
"I doubt it," Jean said as the three of them exited the locker room and made their way to the top of the ramp. She smiled at Trish as they passed her on their way. "Hey girl!" she called out.  
"I'll talk to you later Jean! Have fun out there!" Trish told her as she headed back to the women's locker room.  
"Will do!" Jean yelled after her. The three of them paused once they reached the curtain that marked the top of the ramp. "Well boys, are we ready for this?" Jean asked, looking at them.  
"Hell yeah!" Randy exclaimed, then reached for her hand as Evolution's music began to play and the three of them confidently made their way down the ramp to face Undertaker and Kane who were already in the ring with Precious.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A/N: I know that not a lot happens in this chapter so it's kinda boring, but it will get better soon I promise! I have final exams coming up this week so I'm not going to have much of a chance to write, but I'll try to update again as soon as I can. 


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21:  
"...and making their way to the ring being accompanied by Princess, RANDY ORTON AND BATISTA!" Lillian Garcia announced as the three Evolution members strutted down the ramp.  
"Wait, where's Ric?" Jean whispered to Randy as they made their way down the ramp.  
"He'll be here...trust me," Randy whispered back. "He gets to make a sneak attack, and then he'll be over her to keep you company."  
"Oh right. I forgot," Jean nodded, then carefully climbed up into the ring as Randy sat on the ropes to hold them apart for her. "Thanks," she said, smiling up at him and standing up on tiptoe to kiss him, playing up to the crowd, who responded with a cheers and catcalls as she switched into Princess mode. She turned and locked eyes with Precious who was staring coldly at her from her position next to her father and uncle across the ring. Princess sneered at her before climbing out of the ring to cheer Randy on as he started it off with Kane. She behaved herself for most of the match, yelling and pounding on the mat for Randy and Dave whenever Kane or Undertaker would get the advantage, but not interfering. She stood patiently by the ring post, waiting for her cue from Ric when he snuck in through the crowd and landed a chair shot to the head of Kane while Batista and Princess distracted the referee. The next thing Princess knew, she was pulled off the apron by someone and she landed hard on the ground. She looked up into the angry eyes of Precious and she rolled her eyes at the girl as she made her way back up to her feet.  
"You little bitch," Precious yelled at her. "Who the hell do you think you are interfering in this match? You have no business here!"  
"Excuse me? I have no business here? Randy is my boyfriend! That gives me JUST as much right as YOU to be here. You're just pissed off because I'm actually dating a hot guy, and you....well YOU would never be able to date any decent looking guy in the entire company," Princess responded, looking down her nose at the girl and tossing her hair.  
Precious growled at her before reaching back to punch her, but Princess ducked at the perfect moment and the girl slammed her hand into the ring post.  
"Good job bitch," Princess said, laughing at the look on the girl's face as she clutched her injured hand close to her body.  
"Look at this J.R.!" King yelled into his microphone. "It looks like we're going to have a catfight right here outside the ring! Maybe we'll get to see some new puppies!"  
"Is that all you ever think about King?" J.R. complained. "I don't think that Princess realizes what she's getting herself into with Precious here. Precious is one of the toughest women in the WWE when it comes to having friends in high places. After all, her family connections alone make her one of the best-connected women in the business."  
"Oh who cares about family connections J.R., this is all about puppies!" King interrupted. "Oh! Look at that shot!" he crowed as Princess punched Precious in the eye, knocking her to the ground and then stood there gloating over Precious's body as the referee counted the 1-2-3 as the Undertaker pinned Randy.  
Princess yelped as she felt her hair being grabbed and she looked up nervously into the cold, emotionless eyes of the Undertaker.  
"Oh, no!" King exclaimed as the Undertaker pulled her back up onto the apron by her hair, and then grabbed her by her neck and lifted her over the ropes. "He's going to chokeslam that poor girl!"  
"Well, she asked for it," J.R. commented. "After all, she's the one who distracted the ref and then punched Precious' lights out. She needs to learn that you don't mess with 'Taker or his family!"  
"Even you have to admit that she doesn't deserve to be chokeslammed though J.R.!"  
"No, no one deserves to be chokeslammed by the Undertaker. It does serious damage to the strongest men in this business...I hate to see what it's going to do to that little girl," J.R. said unhappily. "WAIT! What's this?" he exclaimed as Triple H rushed down the ramp with his ever-ready sledgehammer. "Oh! The save is made by the World Heavyweight Champion!" he announced as Triple H hit the Undertaker in the back of the knee with his sledgehammer, causing him to drop Princess to the floor.  
Princess crawled backwards as fast as she could away from where the Undertaker was laying on the mat clutching his knee. She squeaked in fear as she was suddenly pulled out of the ring without warning, then she let out a breath of relief as she looked up into the face of Randy.  
"Let's get you out of here," he said, picking her up and walking towards the ramp where he waited for the rest of the members of Evolution to join them. He looked into the ring where Triple H was pounding the Undertaker with his sledgehammer and Batista and Ric were kicking the hell out of Kane while Precious was laying on the ground after she had been tossed out of the ring by Batista after she hit him from behind.  
Ric glanced over in the their direction, and then motioned to Batista and Triple H, then the three of them slid out of the ring triumphantly and joined Randy and Princess on the ramp. The four men raised their hands together and laughed at the three bodies laying motionless in and around the ring.  
"This is going to be interesting!" J.R. commented. "Because you know that Undertaker and Kane are both going to try to get revenge on Evolution for tonight, and I have a feeling that Precious is going to be gunning for Princess," he finished as he noticed the girl slowly making her way to her feet, her rage-filled eyes staring up the ramp and the departing members of Evolution.  
Precious' lip curled as she slid into the ring and called for a microphone. "PRINCESS!" she said into it, causing Evolution to stop and turn around. "You have no idea what you've just started! You say that I'm just jealous because you're dating Randy and I'm dating no one? Well that's where you're wrong! If I wanted a boyfriend I could do SO much better than Randy...after all, what's a legend killer that hasn't actually managed to kill any legends worth? Absolutely nothing!"  
Princess glared down the ramp at Precious, then turned and gestured for a microphone. "So what are you saying here Precious, because I have better things to do than listen to you rant and rave pointlessly."  
"I'm saying, that you just made yourself a powerful enemy," Precious replied.  
"Oooh, I'm soo scared," Jean said mockingly, pretending to shake in fear in Randy's arms. "Listen here PRECIOUS. You're not the only one with powerful friends, and I honestly don't think that I have ANYTHING to fear from you, so why don't you run along and climb on the back of your dad's motorcycle, since lord knows that no one else would want you to walk down with them, and go on home?"  
Precious straightened up angrily at that comment and growled into the microphone. "Oh it's on. You have no idea what kind of beating you just got yourself into," she said finally, before dropping the microphone to the ground and staring Princess down.  
"Oh yes I do," Princess said arrogantly. "I'm sorry if I'm not afraid of your little bitch slaps. I'll see you around," she finished as she handed the microphone back to the cameraman and Evolution disappeared backstage. 


	23. Author's Note 2

"Shorty171984,  
  
The following review has been submitted to: Life Goes On Chapter: 6  
  
From: VedGirl1201 ?userid=543983)  
  
OK I liked it all except for the whole Princess thing it sounds really really really really REALLY CHEESY!"  
  
"Shorty171984,  
  
The following review has been submitted to: Life Goes On Chapter: 21  
  
From: VedGirl1201 ?userid=543983)  
  
OK no offense you come up with the WORST FUCKING NAMES EVER!! SORRY THEY ARE SO FUCKING CHEESY!"  
  
"Shorty171984,  
  
The following review has been submitted to: Life Goes On Chapter: 22  
  
From: VedGirl1201 ?userid=543983)  
  
ONCE AGAIN YOUR NAMES FUCKING SUCK!! THEY SOUND SO ANNOYING AND UNREAL! The only name that was ever that cheesy for a women was the Kat! COME GET A FUCKING CLUE! Other than that i love it!"  
  
To: VedGirl1201  
  
I believe that I got your point that you don't like the character names in the first review that you posted. There was no reason to continually post them after the first one. Not to mention that if you had actually taken time to ask instead of simply flaming, you would know that the character names were actually picked out by the people who this story was written for. It's not a case of "ONCE AGAIN YOUR NAMES FUCKING SUCK!!" but of the fact that they were chosen by the person that they represent in the story. If you don't have anything constructive to say in your reviews, please do not do so again. I have better things to do with the very little free time that I have than to read three flames by the same person about the same topic. I'm glad you like the story, but couldn't you find something better to do with your time than to send repetitive reviews criticizing someone who actually puts out time and effort to write a story in order to entertain other people, such as writing your own story and then see how hard it is for you to come up with things.  
  
Sincerely,

The author.


End file.
